Tides And Moon
by ADHD-Kid2811
Summary: Annabeth broke up with Percy, and now he's a god. He vowed to himself never to fall in love again, and formed an all-males group just like the Hunters of Artemis. Artemis hates him for this. But things will change eventually. Pertemis. 'T' for language.
1. Chapter 1: New Life

CH 1

**A/N: Hey everyone, here goes the story. Enjoy!**

**Percy's POV**

"Perseus Jackson," Zeus' voice boomed in the huge throne room.

I stood in front of the twelve Olympian gods, facing the lord of the sky, my mind thinking about the past. How everything had happened so fast, how I had lost track of time, how I had lost Annabeth.

_What went wrong?_ I thought.

***Flashback***

I was away from Camp Half Blood, training in my father's palace, after Kronos was defeated. We- Annabeth and me- hadn't had enough time with each other, not enough for me at-least. I mean, I had waited four years for us to get together- well, sort of- and then my father came up with his training suggestion. Well, it was Lord Poseidon, and it's not good to defy a god, so I had left camp for training in my father's realm. Little did I know what would happen afterwards.

I IMd Annabeth once and found her laughing heartily with some guy. I don't know why, but I swiped my hand through the misty image in front of me. Maybe I was jealous. Maybe I wanted to give her some personal space. I don't know. But I felt hurt, I have no idea why.

The next time I IMd her, it was even worse. She was sitting with that same guy on the beach. _It's our place_, I thought bitterly. _Our moment! _When the guy left, I called her name, and she jumped in surprise.

"Seaweed Brain!" she said with mock anger.

"Hey," I tried to say casually. "Enjoying yourself, huh?"

I can swear she blushed at that comment, then said in a small voice, "Yeah."

"So, who's that dude you were talking to?"

"Oh, that," she said, her cheeks getting even redder. She had a dreamy look in her eyes, and I didn't like it. "That's Drake, new camper, son of Hermes."

That confirmed my suspicions. So this is why he looked like a younger version of Luke. Same blue eyes, same sandy blonde hair, same body features. I didn't want to think about that guy anymore, I was already starting to dislike him. So we continued our conversation, asking and answering casual questions. After that, I had a strong feeling that I would have to finish my training soon. I wanted to leave for camp as soon as possible.

***End of Flashback***

"Here we are again," Zeus said, but I wasn't paying much attention. I went on with my train of thoughts.

***Flashback***

I arrived back at the camp after months of restless training. It was dark, and as I was making my way towards the amphitheater where the campers were having a sing-along, I was expecting a cheerful welcome from the campers. I had to admit I really missed camp. But the Fates had planned something different for me.

When I entered the amphitheater, just after a song had finished, everyone burst into cheering. But I soon realized that they were not cheering for my comeback, they were cheering the two people in the middle, entwined with each other in a deep kiss. Horror washed over me as I realized it was Annabeth! And the guy was Drake!

And the whole camp was cheering them? I couldn't believe my eyes. I was extremely hurt by this, so I ran towards my cabin, not being able to watch their makeout session any longer. Once I reached my bed, I jumped on it and lay there, motionless.

***End of Flashback***

"You have proved yourself again."

I looked into his eyes, which seemed to contain the whole sky, and I could see a faint trace of gratitude in them.

"Yes." It was Athena. "The boy has done well."

I looked at her, a bit surprised, and it pained me how much she resembled Annabeth.

Annabeth.

***Flashback***

Someone entered my cabin later that night. I looked at the silhouette, trying to make out who the person was.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain." It was Annabeth, and I was not in a mood to talk to her at the moment. "Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

"Hey," I said weakly, getting up to switch on the lights.

As soon as the cabin lightened, I noticed the faint smile on her face. She looked beautiful, but I didn't ponder much over her looks at that time.

"So, how have you been?"

"Fine, I guess," I said, not looking her in the eyes.

"Percy, what's wrong?" She sounded a bit concerned. When I didn't respond, she asked again, "Tell me, what's wrong?"

And suddenly, I couldn't control myself. I blurted out, "What do you think you were doing back then, snogging Drake like there's no tomorrow?"

It came out harsher than I meant to, but right then, I couldn't care less. She had hurt me, badly. She hesitated a bit, her face blushing.

"Why did you do it?" I asked, my voice full of hurt. "I'm gone a few months and you've already started dating someone else?"

"Oh come on, Percy," she said like it was nothing. "No need to make a fuss of it. It was just a kiss."

Just a kiss? _How often do you kiss me?_ I wanted to yell. It took her so much time to give me a small peck, and here she was, going around kissing random guys!

"Not to make a fuss of it?" I said incredulously. "How will you react if I do the same with some random girl?"

"Drake is not some random guy!" She said defensively. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you've done it with other girls. When you were 'stranded' on Ogygia, I bet you guys had make-out sessions day and night, you being alone there and all that with Calypso."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I just couldn't. She had changed. The Annabeth I knew wouldn't say such things to anyone, much less me. But then, the Annabeth I knew wouldn't hurt me like this by kissing someone else either.

"No we didn't," I said. "I could well have stayed there. But I came back! I came back… for you."

She seemed to soften up for a second, but recovered instantly.

"What about Rachel?" She spat angrily. "You would've easily gone for her had she not been the Oracle."

Rachel. Did _she _not overreact when Rachel was around me? Did _she _not make a fuss when Rachel tried to get my attention? And now _she_ was the one telling me not to make a fuss!

"If you have this little faith in me…" I said, and I was surprised how calm I sounded. "Then I doubt if you even love me."

I shouldn't have said that, because what I heard afterwards horrified me.

"You know what? Yeah, you're right," she said roughly. "I do NOT love you Percy Jackson! I love Drake. And we're done, Seaweed Brain!"

Thunder boomed outside, and with that, she stormed out of my cabin. It was enough to break me. Annabeth broke up with me? The person I loved more than my life, more than anything, my only link to this mortal world, left me? I collapsed on the floor, and for the first time in my life, a tear escaped my eyes. I felt devastated.

***End of Flashback***

"You have proved your loyalty and skill time and again." Zeus said, his voice echoing. "You have shown such courage that no one has ever had in the history."

_Flattering_, I thought. Zeus never showed such gratitude to anyone.

***Flashback***

Percy Jackson, a crier? No way.

I got up from the cold floor, feeling like hitting something. Anger had replaced the feeling of hurt now. With one cry of sheer frustration, I punched the wall, as hard as I could. "Arrgh!"

The whole cabin shook, and I cursed my invulnerability. Right then, I decided there was nothing here for me. The camp was better off without me, everyone was better off without me, Annabeth was better off without me.

I quickly flung my backpack over my shoulder, it still being packed as I had arrived just a few hours ago, and left my cabin, Annabeth's words still playing over and over in my mind.

_We're done Seaweed Brain!_

_Whatever, _I thought bitterly. This is what I got for falling in love. This is what I got for trusting people.

"I hate you Aphrodite! I hate you for toying with my life!" I yelled to the night sky, and vowed to myself never to fall in love again. It was worthless.

***End of Flashback***

"Your deeds must be rewarded."

All the gods murmured in agreement, even the ones that hated me, surprisingly. The gods never agreed on anything! I knew what was coming.

***Flashback***

I walked towards the beach, the rain pouring heavily, though it wasn't supposed to. Not caring about what others would think, I made my way to my father's palace.

The rest is a blur. I practiced sword fighting, wrestling, summoning huge waves, whirlpools, cyclones and loads of other stuff. I trained and trained and trained, partly to become a better warrior, partly to channel my anger somewhere and get over what happened. I pretty much succeeded too. Now I was not haunted by nightmares involving Annabeth. She just crossed my mind from time to time, and that too, didn't hurt as much as it used to.

I tried to stay in contact with Thalia, Nico, Grover and a few others. Every time they would ask me about my sudden disappearance, I would tell them that I needed training, not mentioning Annabeth.

And then came the war. The third war against Titans, lead by Oceanus. But this time, I was ready. And they didn't have Kronos on their side.

The memories of the war are nothing but a blur. It was bloody, no denial in that. Almost the same as the previous one. My father and other gods fought Typhon, who had grown more powerful, while I fought Oceanus and other sea Titans. And I defeated them all, surprisingly, courtesy of my recent rigorous training.

After that, I headed for the land. Our forces were weak, many warriors had been lost in the previous war. The monsters seemed infinite, but we defeated them on the land too. I still can't believe it, but I single-handedly defeated the likes of Hyperion and Atlas. I guess my powers and abilities had developed over time.

The last threat that remained was Typhon, the gods not being able to defeat him this time. I joined them in their struggle. Apollo, Zeus and Dionysus had already been knocked out, and it came as a shock to me. But that ugly thing was NOT going to ruin my city. No way was I letting him do that!

I summoned all the power I could, and fought, not caring what the consequences would be. Desperation gave me strength, and I felt an aura surrounding me, which I later came to know was 'The Spirit of the Sea'. I grew in size, everyone gaping at me in awe as I fought. I felt ecstatic, like I could do anything. And with my new-found power, I kicked that monster back to Tartarus with the help of others.

That pretty much summed up the war. The surviving monsters retreated, and those who were unfortunate and stupid enough to stay were turned to dust in no time. Soon, I found myself in the throne room of the gods in Olympus, facing Lord Zeus.

So here I was, awaiting the decision of the gods.

"And as a reward, we offer you, yet again, godhood."

I felt different reactions to this from the back: some gasps, must be the new campers; some cheers, some of my friends and Tyson's brethren; and some complaints, no doubt from the Ares campers. I won't say it was unexpected, but I was still mildly surprised by this.

I couldn't decide what to do, so after a few moments of awkward silence, I turned to look back. There, between other familiar faces, was the beautiful face of Annabeth Chase. But this time, there was no Annabeth to tie me to the mortal world. She wasn't looking at me.

_She is completely happy with that son of Hermes_, I thought. I was happy for her, no more hurt. But oddly, Drake was nowhere to be seen. That was weird, but I shrugged the thought. I walked towards her with a warm smile on my face, and hugged her.

She looked a bit surprised, but soon recovered, and said uncertainly, "Um, Percy…?"

"Goodbye Annabeth," I whispered in her hair. "Guess we guys were not made for each other."

I pulled away and turned to leave, but she caught my hand. I looked back, and the tears in her eyes pained me. I carefully wiped them away with my hand, and softly said, "Hey, don't cry. I want you to be happy."

"P-Percy," she whispered, stammering. "D-Don't. Please… don't leave me."

I closed my eyes, for her words brought back bittersweet memories, and it hurt. All the voices in the room had died down. It seemed like each and every being in the room was watching us, including the gods.

"I love you, Annabeth," I said painfully. "I always will. And you don't know how hard it is for me to make this decision. But I can't live with what you did. I'm not blaming you. No, I cherish the moments we spent together, but Drake is better than me in more than one way. He'll keep you happy Annabeth."

"No," she almost begged, tears flowing down her cheeks non-stop. "I won't be happy without you. Please don't leave me. Please."

"You have to," I said firmly, and left. I had walked a few steps when someone jumped on my back and whispered in my ear, "I'll miss you, Seaweed Brain."

It was Annabeth. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and ran outside, not looking back even once. She was happy, and so was I. I made my way back to the gods.

"So Perseus," Zeus spoke. "Do you accept our gift?"

"Yes, my lord." There was a finality in my voice. I was no longer weakened by emotions. I was free.

**OK, don't kill me. Yeah, Percy and Annabeth are done. Hello? It's a Pertemis fic, remember? But I didn't want a sad ending, like Annabeth being a bitch or something. They both are happy now, and on their own separate ways. And Percy is a god! Yay! Now it's time for some action…**


	2. Chapter 2: The Warriors Of Perseus

CH 2

**A/N: Hey everyone! I am totally overwhelmed by your response. I mean, I posted the story and just minutes later I started getting alerts. Seriously, you all made my day!**

**Some of you were annoyed by the flashback-and-present switching. Well, I'm sorry but that is how the story came to my mind. If you visualize the story, it'll help. Visualization is the key to effective reading. Just a suggestion…**

**Some of you asked me to make Percy the god of time. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but seriously, that would be a bit too much. I mean, yeah Percy is great and all. But time is something too important for a minor god to control. And Percy's going to start as a minor god. I can't make him an Olympian god just like that. He'll have to prove himself. But thank you for the suggestion.**

**And did I say 'action'? Heh! This chapter is not much action, but it lays the foundation of an important part of the story, i.e. the Warriors of Perseus.**

**Anyways, on with the story…**

**Percy's POV**

I sat on my bed, musing over the incidents of the past few days. Everything had happened so fast, I didn't even get time to think: the war, the victory ceremony, me and Annabeth going our own separate ways, me becoming a god, everything.

Yeah, I was a god now. A minor one, but still… Cool, huh? I was still getting the hang of it, trying not to hyperventilate in front of the gods or do stupid stuff or any of the various things that I would've done had I not been a god. Being a god felt weird, really. But then, it was kinda fun, too.

I mean, being the god of Tides and Earthquakes and a lot of other little things (like unpredictability, valor, loyalty, sacrifice and care etc. Even I don't remember all of them myself), I enjoyed much with my powers. I played little pranks on other minor gods, nymphs and others. It was fun in the beginning, but soon it lost its thrill.

I started feeling lonely and bored. I was not allowed to visit Camp Half Blood as often as I wanted to, I couldn't see my mom as often as I'd like to, and I was not allowed to contact my mortal friends. Gods, there were so many restrictions. The others were used to it, but hey, I was a new god! They called it Ancient Laws blah, blah, blah…

I was flicking through the pages of my photo album, one of the very few things that reminded me of my previous life. I sighed, seeing a picture of me, Annabeth, Rachel, Thalia, Nico and Grover just after the second Titan war. I really missed them all. Forgetting them was going to be hard. But I didn't have to worry about it at the moment.

Then, I remembered something, a promise I made to myself, a vow. I was going to be a _ **(A/N: I'm sorry. What's the male word for 'maiden'? Can somebody just mention it in a review, please!)** god, just like Artemis and Athena. Suddenly, a thought struck me. I had a pledge to fulfill, and I needed company. So why not have some fun?

The hunters of Artemis had always inspired me, not like 'Hey-i-want-to-join-too', but like 'Wow-they-are-some-fierce-fighters'. So I decided to form a group like Artemis, just the opposite. I would be recruiting males.

I smiled to myself. That was a nice idea. This way, I wouldn't be lonely, and I would be doing something noble- well, kind of. I would form a group of males, young heroes like me who had been betrayed by females in any way, or were willing to join anyways. The name?

_Something that sounds as intimidating as 'The Hunters of Artemis'_, I thought. _But still, different. Should be a bit more manly._

And not a second later, the thing I needed came to my mind. Warriors. _Whoa… well that didn't take much time._

Without meaning to, I jumped up from my bed in excitement, wearing a victorious smile. I was pleased with myself. I wasn't known for my quick wits, so it felt nice that I had come up with a fitting name. Annabeth would've been proud of me.

_Great_, I thought. _Just what I need. I'm on my way to create a team of males that will be made to learn to dislike females. And my first thought is "Annabeth would've been proud"._

Shrugging the thought off, I focused my mind on my new goal/conquest: The Warriors of Perseus. Campy, huh? Maybe, but I didn't mind it.

With this happy thought, I took off towards Lord Zeus' palace to ask for his permission. Artemis probably wouldn't be too happy about it. So I needed Zeus' permission to ensure his baby girl doesn't tear me to pieces for doing this.

Zeus wasn't as hard to convince as I had expected. I persuaded him easily. In-fact, he considered it a good idea. According to him, "This will certainly help to bring up the truth of current society and raise the status of the males". His words still echoed in my mind when, ten minutes later, I walked out of his palace to decide what to do next.

I had to spread the word, and the first person that came to my mind was Hephaestus. With his talent and skills, he could easily come up with some magical means to spread the word quickly, so I teleported to his forge.

When I materialized there, I noticed that nothing had changed. It was the same old place I'd seen the last time I had been here. Things lay here and there: cluttered on the floor, on the huge tables and desks, hanging from the ceiling, everywhere. I had visited this place before, but the inventions still amazed me. A hunched figure was working in a corner, too busy to notice me roaming around.

"Hello, Lord Hephaestus," I greeted him.

He looked up, and I saw his face, weathered and unshaven as ever. "Ah, Perseus. Hello."

"How are you, sir?" I asked sincerely.

"Fine," he said, waving a hand. "Just fine. No need to call me lord or sir, my dear cousin. Just call me Hephaestus."

"Um… Okay." Hephaestus had always been nice to me since the incident at Mount St. Helens. Perhaps he valued the 'favor' I did him too much, but who's complaining? I was glad for that.

"So, what brings you here?" He asked, going back to his work.

"Well, I got an idea this morning that since I'm going to lead the life of an eternal bachelor **(A/N: Sorry again!)**, why not form a group of males just like Artemis' Hunters who don't want the company of females. What say?"

"That is a good idea, I think." He smiled. "It will help us bring back our lost respect and reveal the truth of today's society."

I couldn't help but smile, too. "Exactly what Lord Zeus said."

"Father is a wise man, yes. So what do you need my help for?"

"I was thinking if, you know, you could help me spread the word that I need allies and help me with recruitment. I'll take anyone: demigods, children of minor gods, mortals; whoever is willing to join and forswear romantic love and the company of women yada, yada, yada. If anyone can do that, you can."

"I'd be honored to help," he said. "I'll broadcast the message everywhere on Hephaestus TV. Those willing to join can contact you, what d'you think?"

"Sounds great," I said happily. "All the recruits must be under the age of… seventeen. Yeah, that's right, seventeen. Okay, I'm out. Thanks a lot, cousin. Farewell."

I waved to him and teleported to my room in my dad's palace. As soon as I arrived, I hopped on my bed. Now all I had to do was sit patiently and wait for any Iris Messages. I lay back contentedly and closed my eyes, instantly falling asleep.

I was jerked out of my sleep by an angry female voice. "What is the meaning of this, Perseus?"

I got up from my bed quickly and looked toward the source of that voice. Some girl was standing at the threshold with her arms folded in front of her chest and looking furious. She appeared to be in her early twenties, and it took me a while to figure that she was Artemis. I hastily bowed to her and, although I already knew what she was talking about, said innocently, "What is the meaning of what, Lady Artemis?"

"Don't try to act innocent," she said, putting her hands on her waist. "You know perfectly well what I'm talking about. What's this I'm hearing about you starting an all-men club or something?"

"Oh, that." I sighed mentally. It had to come to it eventually, but I hadn't expected it to happen so early. I mean, it had just been a few hours and she knew already? "It's not a club, just a group of guys who will be fighting against evil. I see nothing bad about that."

"Oh _please_," she said sarcastically. "Do you really think I don't know what you're up to? I know your real motive. You want to blot the status of women. You want to prove that men are better than women, but they are not!"

"I don't want to prove anything," I said calmly. "I just want to show people the truth and to help Olympus."

"No, you don't!" She said angrily. "I know your reasons, and I won't let you do anything against women."

"That is not my intention, and besides, you can't stop me now. I have your father's permission," I said, trying to sound as respectful as possible. Artemis wasn't someone you'd like to mess with.

"What?" She said incredulously. "How could he? I'll have to talk to him. And you! I'll deal with you later, and you'll regret your attempt to insult womankind."

_Oh great_, I thought. _Another super-powerful Olympian god holding a grudge against me._

She disappeared and I was left alone in the room to curse my luck. It's not like I was scared of her or anything. I wasn't scared of anyone these days, not even death. I had seen too much, I had gone through too much. It was just that I didn't want the gods arguing. We were supposed to be a family; actually, we were a family. And I didn't want any tensions among family members.

The thought made me sad. Thankfully, Iris decided to help me out at that moment and so, I was pulled out of my thoughts by an IM. It was a guy, around fourteen, with shaggy brown hair and blue eyes. He bowed and said, "Lord Perseus."

"Oh, no need for the titles," I said casually. I wasn't used to being called 'lord' or other titles, and I didn't like it either. It sounded weird, and it made me feel like people were scared of me. Unlike some other big-headed gods, I didn't want that. "You can simply call me Percy."

"You are being too modest, my lord." The boy shook his head and smiled. "You out of everyone truly deserve to be called 'lord'. You are the bravest god ever. I saw you fight in the war, we all did. Me and my friends, we were totally awed by your sk-"

"Okay, okay. Enough about me," I said, cutting him off. Why did everyone have to treat me like a god? **(A/N: A god, get it? Haha! A god…)**"What about you? What's your name?"

"I'm Asterix," he said, smiling. "Demigod son of Lord Apollo."

"Good. So, I believe you've IMd me in response to my request for allies on Hephaestus TV?"

"Yes, sir."

"Come on, just call me Percy." I was getting tired of telling this to everyone. "I'm just seventeen, mate. These titles feel really awkward y'know."

"Okay."

"So, how many of you guys are there in all from Camp Half Blood?"

His face lit up at this and he excitedly said, "There are sooo many of us wishing to join you. There are kids from almost every cabin!"

"That's great. I'll be there in about half an hour. Can you please inform Chiron and other campers about that?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Good. Tell them to meet me in the amphitheater. See ya later, Asterix," I said, waving my hand through the mist.

_Seems like I'm getting popular._ I had not expected such a quick response. Asterix had said that there are campers from almost every cabin, which meant that I'd be recruiting a lot of Warriors from camp. _And I can also see my friends!_

The following half hour was hard to pass due to my building excitement, and my ADHD made it even harder. But somehow, I did it and left for camp at the right time. I teleported to the beach and walked my way to the amphitheater, looking around for any changes in the camp. On my way, many dryads and satyrs bowed to me, which I acknowledged with a smile.

_Gosh, I missed this place so much!_ I thought to myself. I would have to ask Zeus to allow me to visit camp more often.

When I arrived in the amphitheater, everyone bowed to me, even Chiron. I was hurt by this as I had been expecting many hugs and claps on my back, but they treated me like I had never been their friend, like I had been born a god. I said, "Guys? Come on, you've already segregated me? I'm still the same old Percy. I can really do with some hugs."

At this, everybody laughed except Annabeth, who just smiled and muttered, "Same old Seaweed Brain."

All the campers rushed forward. The Stolls were the first to reach and they, along with many others, clapped me on the back with many "Hey"s and "What's up"s. then followed some hugs by my close friends.

Nico was one of them, which surprised me a bit because he never showed much emotion or anything. Surprisingly, Rachael was there, too. Then came Grover, crying "Perrrcyyy!" Annabeth came last, and she hugged me so fiercely that I was reminded of Tyson's bear-hug. We stood there for some time, arms wrapped around each other, but when things started getting awkward, I said slowly, "Um… Annabeth?"

"Just shut up, Seaweed Brain! You may be some great god, but you're still my friend."

Then she let go, and I turned to face Chiron. He smiled and gave me a small hug. "How are you, my child?"

"Fine, Chiron." I looked around to take in the whole scene. Every cabin was here except for the Ares cabin, but Clarisse was there, which was again a surprise. Some new girls in the back were staring at me with dreamy eyes, which made my cheeks flush. "So, is everyone here?"

"Yes!" They all yelled in unison.

"Alright, all those guys who want to join, line up here." I gestured to a spot in front of me. In no time, I was facing a long queue. "The rest of you can leave."

When all the others left, I noticed the guys in the line, and at the end was none other than Nico! I wondered what made him think about joining me, but soon left the thought for later. Some of them were really young, only about eight or nine. They were chattering and giggling excitedly. I sighed. "All those below the age of twelve, leave."

Suddenly, the amphitheater was filled with cries of complaining and disapproval. I just ignored them and said loudly, "No complaints. You guys are just too young. When you get older, you can join me. But not now, it's very dangerous."

About one-third of the campers left, sighing and mumbling. I walked to the left of the queue and told them to face me. "Now, do all of you know the terms and conditions? You have to forswear romantic love and the company of women right from the moment you join."

This was followed by some more complaints, and those who refused to accept the terms were told off. After that, I was left with about twenty campers. That was enough for the start.

"So… We get immortality like the Hunters or something?" One of them asked. Uh-oh, I hadn't thought about that.

"Uh, no. Not until I ask Lord Zeus." I thought about what to offer them instead of that, and smiled when I got the solution. "But I can grant you some cool powers."

"What kind of powers?"

"How about underwater breathing?" I offered. "Underwater vision and stuff like that. What say?"

"Cool," most of them said loudly.

"Those who accept, step forward. Those who don't may leave."

So with that, I was left with thirteen guys. Not a lucky number to start with, but since when did I care about superstitions? We did the introductions and I found out that four of them were from Apollo cabin, two from Hephaestus, two from Athena, one from Demeter, one from Hades (obviously), one from Hermes, one from Hecate and one from Nemesis cabin.

_Nice_, I thought. Most of them were fourteen, two were thirteen, one was fifteen, one was sixteen and two were seventeen. I knew some of them from my time at camp, but many were new, including Asterix. I told them to go pack their stuff and meet me at the beach in one hour.

With that, I left the amphitheater to catch up with my friends. I found Grover and Annabeth in the archery range. Grover was playing his reed pipes while Annabeth was teaching archery to the young campers. When she was done, we headed towards the beach, laughing and talking all the way. We talked about the recent happenings in camp, how Rachel was doing, Grover's new 'Lord of the Wild' life and much more, but mostly it was about me and how it felt like being a god.

"So Annabeth, how are things with you and Drake?" I asked conversationally after a few minutes of sitting in silence.

Bad question. Her face immediately morphed into a sad expression, and she bowed her head down. I knew something was wrong.

"Um… Percy, it didn't…" Grover started, but Annabeth cut him off.

"We're over," she spat, and I could sense that she was close to tears. "Turns out Drake was a jerk. He left me for Katie Gardner."

"Oh" was all I could say. So that's why he wasn't with her all this time. I felt really sorry for her. I had thought that he would keep her happy, that they were meant for each other. But I was wrong. First Luke, and now Drake, too? I knew it was a hard time for her, so I didn't push. "I'm sorry, Annabeth."

"You don't have to be sorry for me," she said getting up, not looking at me. "I deserve it."

And she ran away. There was an eerie silence between Grover and me. Ugh! Girls were very strange sometimes.

After a while, Asterix and Nico arrived, shortly followed by the others. With that, we were ready to roll. I told them to form a circle around me and sit on their knees.

"Do you all accept my gift and forswear the company of women?"

"Yes," they all said in unison.

"Do you all forswear romantic love and vow to be an eternal _bachelor_?"

"Yes."

"Do you all pledge to fight for the good of humankind and protect it against all evil with the very last drop of your blood?"

"Yes."

"Do you all accept each other as your brothers and swear to stand for each other at every moment of your life?"

"Yes."

I raised Riptide towards the heavens. "Then I, Perseus, on this auspicious moment, declare you the Warriors. Rise, my brothers. Our destinies are one now."

**So here it is. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. And guys, I won't be able to update as quickly as some of you might like me to, but I'll try my best. My life sucks! I'm not allowed to use my PC for more than an hour (study issues, y'know), my parents stole my phone (yeah, they took it when I was asleep and then hid it somewhere), I don't have an internet connection despite my innumerable pleadings so I have to go to my dad's office to update (where I am right now), and the list of bad things can go on forever… So please cooperate.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading. I love y'all. Enjoy!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Price For Immortality

CH 3

**A/N: Hey everyone! THANK YOU! Thank you all for your reviews. Thank you soooo much for your support, suggestions and everything. Here's the new chapter.**

**And OH MY GODS! I forgot to put the disclaimer in the last two chapters! So here it is. Rick, if you're reading this… *shudders* please don't sue me.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or any of its characters, Rick Riordan does. And read it carefully 'cause I'm not gonna say it again!**

**And here goes the chapter…**

**Percy's POV**

After the binding oath, we left for Lord Zeus' palace. I teleported all of us to Olympus, and it was a bit tiring as I wasn't used to teleporting so many people along with me at a time. When we reached there, I took a deep breath in the fresh air of Olympus. The palace stood in the middle of the city, its grandeur and beauty gracing the whole place. No doubt Annabeth had done an awesome job, and she had named it 'Nirvana'. I was sure that in the coming years, Olympus would be having a complete makeover.

It was a small walk to the palace, and within a few minutes we were standing before the lord of sky. He was looking irritated and I sensed that he was not in a mood to talk. Still, we all bowed respectfully and I stepped forward to greet him.

"Hello, Lord Zeus."

"Hello to you too, young nephew," he said moodily.

"What is bugging you, my lord?"

"Nothing," he said, waving a hand. "It's nothing."

"It's Lady Artemis, isn't it?" I said kindly.

"Yes." He looked into my eyes. "She is angry with me for letting you form the group."

"You aren't having second thoughts, are you?" I asked worriedly. "Do you think I did something wrong, my lord?"

"No, no, no. You did the right thing Perseus. You had every right to do this," he said. "It's just that she's not talking to me now. She's angry, and when she's angry, she does reckless things."

I was surprised. I wasn't familiar with this soft side of the proud and tough-looking king of the gods. I guess even the gods, too, cared about their loved ones.

"Don't worry, Lord Zeus," I said reassuringly. "She can't stay mad at you for long. She'll soon redirect her anger at me."

He smiled a bit, and then said, "So, what brings you here?"

"Uh- I was thinking- uh," I stammered, thinking about how to put it in front of him. "I came here to ask if I can bless my Warriors with immortality, just like the Hunters."

Zeus seemed to consider this for a moment. "I'd be happy to grant you this permission, but as you know, Artemis is angry with me. If I grant your men immortality, she'll probably blow up the whole Olympus."

My heart sank, and it must've showed on my face, because after looking at me, he added, "But if you and your Warriors prove yourself by doing the gods some favors, then I'm sure the whole Council will agree to this. And then, even Artemis won't be able to complaint."

"Okay," I said, stretching the 'o'. "What kind of favors?"

"Ah, nothing big. Just this and that, whatever the gods ask you to do." He made it sound like it was nothing, but I had a feeling that the gods were going to give us a hard time.

"So when do we start?"

"You can start right now if you wish," he said, straightening up a bit.

I heard some excited whispers from the back. _Okay, so they are ready, I guess._

"Yes. We are ready."

"Very well, then. Here's your first task: find the cave of the ancient Scymanthian Drakons and slay them. And it's very dangerous, I must tell you. Don't play with the lives of your men."

"I understand."

"You may leave now."

"Fine, m'lord." I bowed again, my Warriors following my lead, and we left his palace after that. We made our way to the magic elevator as I decided not to teleport all of us back to the mortal world. We would need all the energy we could gather. As we passed through the streets of Olympus, people eyed us curiously. Some minor god-lings chatted excitedly while some nymphs giggled, but I told my Warriors not to pay attention.

When we reached the elevator, I pressed the ground zero button. After listening to the same old crappy music for a while, we stepped out of it. I made a mental note to ask Zeus to change the elevator music. As we headed out of the Empire State Building, the all-too-familiar guard bowed to me, and I smiled in response.

Once out of the building, I asked aloud, "How many of you have had training at camp?"

All of them raised their hands, even the twelve year olds. I changed my statement. "I mean, how many of you have had training for more than six months at-least?"

Four of them lowered their hands, and so, I was left with seven Warriors to accompany me on this dangerous mission. I gestured toward them and said, "The four of you, go back to Olympus. You can stay in my palace"

They looked at me with a surprised expression on their faces. "You don't have enough training to go on this mission. I can't risk your lives. Just walk in there and ask for 600th floor. If the guard gives you a hard time, just tell him that the god of tides will see to it personally."

They began to protest, but my decision was final: No. after a while, they gave in and left. With that, I set my eyes on our target. I had no idea where the cave of the Scymanthian Drakons was, and I could think of only one person at the moment who'd know about it. Chiron.

* * *

When we arrived at the Camp, Chiron was surprised to see us. I quickly filled him in with the news. After many nods and "Hmm"s and "I see"s from him, I asked him the final question.

"So, we came here to ask you the location of the ancient Scymanthian Drakons."

"Oh," he said. "I believe that they inhabit the island of Scymanthia. It's a small island located in the Sea of Monsters."

_Great_, I thought. _The Sea of Monsters, here I come again._

"Uh… Thanks Chiron," I said. "I wanted to ask you if you know why Lord Zeus asked us to slay the Scymanthian Drakons. I mean, why just them in particular?"

"That's because they are very dangerous," he said, but that was obvious. I raised an eyebrow, so he added, "And they feed off Zeus' thunder. They are those fire breathing types. I think that's why he asked you to kill them."

On that happy note, we thanked Chiron and left Camp Half Blood.

**A/N: I know it's too short, but I didn't get much time to think or write. I'm really sorry. But I'll update soon. This chapter's just a filler, and you can criticize me if you want. I'll take it happily, I know I deserve it. What I wanted to know by way of this chapter is your opinion. Do you guys want me to write short chapters and update quicker or to write long chapters and update about once in a week? Also, do you want me to write all the favors the Warriors will be doing for the gods in detail, or do you want me to just go through them quickly and make Percy a major god as soon as possible? Either mention your opinion in the review or vote on my poll. But don't do both, I repeat, DON'T DO BOTH!**

**Okay, I'm out. I'll update on Saturday, hopefully… Enjoy! And please keep reading. I need you guys!**


	4. Chapter 4: The First Task

CH 4

**A/N: Hey everyone! THANK YOU! Thank you for everything! I guess everyone wants me to write long and detailed chapters. Alright then; though the updates will be slower, sadly. But not to worry, I'll try my best to update as soon as possible. And I'm REALLY sorry for making you wait so long! So, let's begin the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything!**

* * *

**Percy's POV**

"Are we there yet?"

"No Matt!" shouted James from the front, grappling with the wheel. "And if you ask that _one_ more time, I swear I'll feed you to sharks!"

"There aren't any sharks in this water," Matt said uncertainly. Then he looked at me and added, "Are there, Commander?"

I didn't say anything, just smiled. That was enough to scare him, and he didn't complaint after that. We were on our way to Scymanthia, wherever it was. I mean, yeah it was in the Sea of Monsters, but we didn't know the exact location. Or, at-least _they_ thought so. I knew the exact position of the island on the sea, and I could've easily transported us there with my powers over water and all- Hey! Being a god has its perks- but as the commander of the Warriors, it was my duty to train them, and that I was doing.

They should know how to survive in hostile conditions, and I think being in the Sea of Monsters under a blazing sun not knowing where to go is a pretty hostile condition. But no worries! I'd faced far worse, and my Warriors should be able to face it, too.

"There!" Asterix yelled excitedly. "Look, there's an island there!"

"It looks nice," Jake said. "It's like a small town. Funny, isn't it? A fully developed town in the middle of the Sea of Monsters. Maybe we can take some rest there."

As we neared that island, I began to recognize it. It was Circe's island!

"Yeah," I said loudly. "Did you guys give a single thought to what a fully developed town is doing in the most uninviting region of the planet? No, right? Well, that's because it's Circe's island! Ever heard of her?"

All of them had horrified expressions on their faces. "Isn't she that witch who used to turn the men who stopped on her island into pigs?"

"She doesn't turn them into pigs anymore," I said matter-of-factly. "She prefers guinea pigs. They're easier to handle, y'know."

"Er… Commander," said Matt. "How do you know?"

"I've been there," I said, remembering the old days. "We were on… ah- an illegal quest to rescue my friend Grover from Polyphemus when we made the mistake of taking a stop at her island. And guess what, she turned me into a guinea pig. That's how I know."

They were awed by this, but then their expressions changed to smirks. _I shouldn't have told them about that guinea pig part!_

I sighed. "Well, it's a secret. So don't tell this to anybody, Okay?"

"Okay, Commander." All of them headed back to their respective positions. James steered our ship to the left, while I sent a huge- and when I say huge, I mean HUGE- wave of water toward her island, which crashed at the coast and did massive amount of destruction. Yeah, payback's a bitch!

After a while, we found the island of Scymanthia, and all of us cheered. We got off at the shore, and made our way to the middle of the island through the forest, where the cave of the Drakons would be.

It was starting to get dark. The sooner we finished this, the better.

THUMP!

All heads turned. "What was that?"

Suddenly, the dark night was illuminated as a big wave of fire swept through the forest. It was a Drakon, a _huge_ one!

"All of you, get back!" I shouted as I charged the Drakon. "I'll deal with it."

It was about fifty feet thick, and I had no idea how long it was because of the dark. It had its mouth open, revealing fangs that were longer than any of my men.

_Scary_, I thought. _But I'm a god, and I'm not afraid of anything!_

I jumped up, took out Riptide and it sprang to life. Yeah, it was a nice modification by Hephaestus. Now I could restore Riptide to its true form just by thinking about it, no need to uncap it. Cool, isn't it?

As soon as I landed on the Drakon, it started shaking violently. I pushed my sword in a chink in its armor, and held on tightly. I shouted, "Asterix, aim for the eye!"

The next second, an arrow struck the Drakon in its left eye and it hissed/roared in pain. I took advantage of the opportunity. I ran up its back and stabbed it in the eye. Green blood poured out of it, and it was a gruesome sight. I jumped back and landed among my Warriors.

The Drakon was writhing and thrashing like mad, taking out multiple trees at a time. It started breathing fire again, and in no time, all the area surrounding us was burning. I summoned water from the sea, flooding the whole place. I swam toward the Drakon and entered into its open mouth. Then I took Riptide and stabbed the soft skin on the inside of its throat. It opened its mouth again, howling louder than ever, and I made my way out.

As the water cleared, I started looking for my Warriors. The Drakon turned into dust, leaving a faint golden light everywhere.

"Commander!"

Before I could look in the direction of the sound, something crashed into me, sending me flying into the air.

_Damn!_ I thought. _My reflexes have gotten weak._

I was about to hit a tree, but I turned in mid-air and steadied myself. The moment my feet landed on the tree's trunk, I bent them a little and then pushed back, ricocheting off the trunk. I saw the other Drakons gathering in the area. Sensing the danger, I called for my men.

"Warriors, regroup!"

All the Warriors gathered around me while the Drakons were still coming closer. There were about twenty of them, and some of them were about thrice the size of the one we had just killed. Maybe that one was a baby Drakon, and now the mama Drakon and papa Drakon were angry at us.

_Ah, nothing big_. Zeus' voice reverberated in my head. _Just this and that._

_Yeah_, I thought angrily. _Nothing big, just twenty fire-breathing Drakons, each about the size of the Empire State Building._

"Archers, don't go near them, their venom is deadly." I shouted. "Attack them when I call. Others, attack from the back. Be careful! I repeat, be careful! I don't want any casualties on our very first mission. And whenever I summon a wave, go underwater and then attack. Now _move_!"

I charged the first Drakon that came into my sight. The Warriors followed in my lead, running and shooting arrows while yelling battle-cries. The Drakons responded with equal enthusiasm, hissing and crushing trees while they sprayed poisonous Drakon spit everywhere.

"Careful!" I yelled again, while blinding the largest Drakon among them. "Archers, the mouth!"

Two arrows struck it in the mouth, and it disintegrated. I sighed. _One down, nineteen to go._

I glanced at my left as I charged another Drakon, and saw that two of my Warriors were struggling with one particularly violent Drakon. They were trying to keep themselves balanced on its back while finding chinks in its armor. Two archers were helping them, firing arrow after arrow, but it did nothing except annoy the beast even more. I quickly summoned a wave and directed it toward them as I ran toward the Drakon in front of me.

I jumped straight into its mouth as it opened. I wanted to end it as quickly as possible. Doing the same thing I had done earlier, I jumped out of its mouth.

The other Drakons were wreaking havoc, burning down the whole forest. My Warriors wouldn't be able to hold them for long. I had to think of something fast, but first I needed to extinguish the wild forest-fire. I summoned large amounts of water and it wiped the fire out in a few seconds, while I killed another Drakon.

I couldn't keep the water standing there for a long time due to the Drakon poison, so I kept calling the waves and then sending them back. I jumped on another Drakon and stabbed it in the eye. It howled and I jumped as it raised its head, and then fell into its open jaw. I wounded it in the mouth and leapt out, but one of its fangs tore through my arm and an intense pain shot through it.

My knees buckled when I landed on the ground, but I ignored the pain and ran toward another Drakon. I was not going to show weakness in a time of danger. I summoned wave after wave of sea water, which kept draining me of energy slowly. But I didn't pay any attention to it. My main motive was to finish this task as soon as possible without letting my Warriors get hurt.

We followed the same strategy for the next few minutes- blinding the Drakon and then attacking it inside the mouth- and succeeded in killing many of them, and the fact that Drakons have really poor eyesight also helped a lot.

"Errgh!" I groaned as a Drakon tackled me from the back, and let me tell you, getting tackled by an angry Drakon is very painful! I fell on my back and the Drakon charged me again, but I recovered quickly and dodged. There was only one left, and it looked really infuriated.

I got up and jumped at it, but it had learned from its deceased friends. It opened its mouth and sprayed venom at me. I reacted instinctively, spinning Riptide in front of me with lightning speed, a move I had learned during my days of training. It created a tornado coming out from my sword and saved me from the venomous spit, but the force pushed me back.

I fell on the land, but as I tried to get up, my knees betrayed me. _We're going to fail._

Suddenly, and idea popped inside my head. Why hadn't I thought of it earlier? I yelled, "Nico! What the hell are you doing?"

"Huh?"

He looked confused, so I told him what I was thinking about. "Why aren't you doing your Son-of-Hades thing? Summon some dead warriors, quick!"

His eyes widened and he stood frozen for a moment, as though he had just remembered that he had his Math exam the next day and he didn't know that one and one add up to make two.

"Come on!" I yelled, leaping sideways to avoid a tackle attack. Thankfully, he came to his senses at that and quickly started using his powers. The ground cracked at many places and skeleton hands shot out of them. The dead warriors made their way out of the Underworld, clawing on air as if they could hold it.

_Whip!_ I dodged the Drakon's massive tail which had just appeared out of nowhere. Skeleton warriors jumped at it and started attacking frantically, not caring where their swords hit. Some of them were just irritating the big thing, making clanking noises as swords hit the armor, but some found vulnerable spots.

While they kept the Drakon busy as it tried to shake them off, I made my way up its body and stopped when I reached its head.

"The eyes!" I yelled and jumped up in the air again. Two arrows whizzed and blinded it in the blink of an eye. As it shook its head back and opened its mouth to let out a cry, I entered inside its body. Slipping down its dirty food-pipe, I stuck Riptide into its skin to slow down. It took me a couple of seconds to stop, which left a long deep wound running down the inside of its throat.

With one last scream, the Drakon started disintegrating, and I landed on the ground covered in green muck. _Ew!_

My whole body was burning, courtesy of the Drakon poison, but the time to rest had not come yet. I summoned another wave to wash myself, and started off toward the heart of the island after that. "Follow me. We have to check if anyone's left."

They all followed me as we made our way toward the cave of the Drakons.

"Is anybody hurt?" I asked, glancing back.

"Nope," Asterix answered. "None of the archers at-least."

"What about you guys?" I asked the non-ranged units.

"No serious injuries, Commander," Jake said. "Just little scratches and cuts."

We were talking like we were an army, though we were just eight teens: four archers and four close combatants. Of course, being a god counts more, but still… I was surprised that we had survived against twenty king-size Drakons, but I couldn't ignore the fact that some of us could've died had the battle taken any longer to end.

I'd have to be more careful while accepting to do a favor for a god. My Warriors needed thorough training before we could continue any such life-threatening missions. I knew all too well what happens when you jump into a battle without any real experience. I could never forget what had happened to Bianca, and the memory was always depressing.

I pushed the thought into a corner of my mind and continued walking. After a while, we found an enormous cave thingy which had multiple entrances. It was made out of completely black rock, and had Drakon-thick holes here and there.

"Hello?" Drew called. "Anybody in there?"

"Do you honestly think they'll come out if you call?" I heard Nico say.

"Come on boys," I said, heading inside.

We wandered around the place for a while, looking for any left out Drakons, but there were none. So, after one last look, we left the cave and started toward the coast where our ship was.

This immortality was going to cost us a lot.

**

* * *

A/N: So, here it is. Its not very long, but I hope you liked it. I tried to put in some action. And sorry for the long wait. I had left using 'Facebook' four months ago 'cause it was just too addictive, but a few days ago my friend forced me to check my Facebook account just once, and I was addicted again. I'm really sorry for that! I'll try to update sooner next time.**

**Now, I want to ask you people something: I have some favors planned which the gods will assign to Percy and his Warriors. I have some more stuff planned before the real thing comes, and it'll definitely help in the long run. But the problem is that it will make the story really long, and I think some of you may not like that. So what I'm asking is that should I go in the details about the favors (I have three more favors) and my other plans, or should I just skim through it quickly in the next chapter and come to the main thing?**

**PLEASE mention it in your review! Thank you. I love y'all!**


	5. Chapter 5: Nico

CH 5

**A/N: Hola people! Thank you sooooo much for your reviews! I brought you the next chapter! But before that, I wanted to do some shout-outs.**

_**the ghost king**_**: Thanks. You never fail to cheer me up.**

_**Cant Change Destiny**_**: You'll have to wait for that.**

_**Rider of the Winds**_**: Didn't get what you said, sorry.**

_**Artemis zodiac**_**: Thanks. I didn't see any PJatO fic in your profile, and I'm not much into movie-based fanfics. So I didn't read any, sorry. But maybe I'll read when I get some free time.**

_**Kris-GoddessofChaosandCookies**_**: Heh! I haven't read Twilight series, and maybe I never will. Anyways, thanks for the suggestion, but I couldn't fit that in.**

_**Wia S**_**: THANKS A LOT! I hope you read my PM.**

_**Aethers Chosen**_**: Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I'll use it, it's a nice idea.**

_**eltigre221**_**: Thanks. I'll try to make them long.**

_**HappyAce88**_**: Hehe! Thanks, and yeah, Facebook is like drugs!**

_**DiamondDragonFang-Pertemis**_**: I won't even remember what the fic was about if I read the new chapter after months, and the same might happen to you now. :D And yeah, it was my first time. Thanks!**

_**The Gamer Dude**__**:**_**Thanks. Don't worry, I have everything planned out.**

_**pertemis lover: **_**Dude (or whatever), what were you trying to do? Is that some alien language?**

_**Electronic Bookworm**__**: **_**Hey, thanks man! Keep reading, and writing, too! :D**

_**Smither**__**:**_**Yes this is a Percy/Artemis pairing. Why confused?**

_**Dr. Pyro**__**: **_**Yeah, OK. I know the story needs to move on, but you didn't have to use the 'f' word.**

_**Adonai63**__**: **_**Thanks! Your review was just sweet! And I'm eagerly waiting for your update on 'Just Go With The Flow'.**

_**curve-goddess**__**: **_**Thanks. Maybe I'll do something like that.**

_**Werewolves-girl**__**: **_**I'll try.**

_**bookADDICT6**__**: **_**Don't worry. You want Percabeth, you'll get it. I have another story planned for Percabeth. Hopefully it'll be out soon.**

_**AlwaysHasAPlan**__**: **_**Here's the update.**

_**valkyriecain2110**__**: **_**I'm working on it. And your pen name suggests you are a Skulduggery series fan. Well, I am too. Although I've read only the first book.**

_**nicorulz16: **_**Can't do that, sorry.**

_**Poseidon93**__**: **_**Yeah. But you'll have to wait for that.**

_**monolith67**__** : **_**Heh! You really think so? Thanks! :D**

_**Sethluver16**__**: **_**No, read my PM.**

_**Cymopoleia**__** , incognito, **__**Percy Jackson the hero**__** , **__**Forever- The Huntress**__** , **__**Heavenlywhiteangel**__**, **__**thalico**__**, **__**Gabi980**__**, **__**Rainfire of Riverclan**__**, **__**PJ Fan111**__**, **__**hedgehogfan162**__**, **__**SkylerPhoenix**__**, **__**Deviltrigger Dante**__**, **__**liliesandroses**__**, **__**tridentbonez313**__**, **__**spartan 057**__**, **__**unknown mw2**__**, **__**Farkasember**__**, **__**DemigodAlexa**__**, **__**Werewolf2300**__**, **__**68542ppl**__**, **__**iPerul**__**, **__**sonofposiedon1994**__**, **__**DxInsider**__**, **__**mythlover1349**__**, **__**GingerBiscuits**__**, **__**smileysgoboing**__**, **__**Earthshaker99**__**, **__**subterra59**__**, **__**Gold Testament**__**, **__**xxDaughter-of-Poseidonxx**__**, **__**MyChemicalRomanceRocks**__**, **__**Justinlin7**__**, **__**PercyJacksonBooklover**__**, **__**pyro94**__**, **__**poseidon son**__**, **__**copieright this**__**, **__**code R.R**__**, **__**Kingdom of Zetalnarury-88**__**, **__**tmhizzy**__**, **__**pjo n kane chronicles**__**, **__**super reader whoot**__** , **__**High Gaurdian**__**, **__**hotxhotguy**__**: **_**Thank you all for reading and reviewing!**

**Alright. Now, on with the chapter.**

**

* * *

**

**Nico's POV (Isn't that cool?)**

Rotten. That's what my life was. Totally, undoubtedly, absolutely rotten!

I stood on the balcony of Percy's palace (Yeah, I still sometimes call him Percy, but he doesn't mind), thinking about why and how my life sucked so much. Everything and everyone I ever loved… taken away from me.

First Mom, whom I didn't even remember. The only memory I had of her was her death, the scenes playing over and over in my mind. If there was one thing I hated the gods for, it was their ways of treating mortals. They fell for mortals, had children with them, and then left as if nothing happened. Why did Zeus kill my mother like that? Was he, the mighty King of the Olympians, afraid of a mere mortal? No, he was afraid of us. That's why I always thought of it as a curse, being a demigod.

As if my mother's death was not enough, Bianca was taken away from me, too. The only person I had who actually cared about me. And the worst part about it, I had no one to blame, just me. I shouldn't have let her go in the first place.

And then… her. Damn! I couldn't even bring myself to say her name.

_I was fighting, fighting like I had never fought before. All around me I could hear sounds of raging war: angry battle-cries from both sides, rain pattering heavily and metal clashing against metal._

_Our side was losing, it seemed. I could see bodies of demigods everywhere, either dead or crying in pain. The dark shape of Typhon was visible even from so much distance and the rain blinding me. The gods were fighting him, tiny balls of light. I was exhausted to death, summoning legion after legion of dead soldiers. But they weren't enough, I had to call for more._

_I killed the last monster in sight and sat down, my palms resting on the wet ground. Closing my eyes, I concentrated my life energy and called for more soldiers. I stood up and the ground began to crack. I sighed in relief and turned to go fight some more monsters._

_That's when everything went terribly wrong. My mind went through a momentary spasm and I collapsed. When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry and dark. I could see a huge silhouette above me, and I knew I was dead meat. The monster raised it's sword to attack._

"_Nico!" I heard someone shout, and the next moment a body fell on me while the monster dissipated into golden dust. My vision returned, and what I saw horrified me._

"_NOOOOO!" My cry could've been heard throughout the whole city. Gwen was lying on the ground, a sword in her stomach. Blood was all around her._

"_Why?" My voice was hollow. A tear trickled down my cheek and fell onto her face._

_She raised her hand to touch my face, and wiped my tear. "Because I…"_

_She never completed her sentence._

"Nico," someone called from behind. I turned to see Percy standing just outside the door; and when he saw me, he got a look of surprise and concern on his face.

"Hey," he came rushing and grabbed my shoulders. "What happened bro? Why are you crying?"

I realised I had tears in my eyes. "Nothing, my lord. It's nothing."

"Come on, Nico. I'm asking as your big brother. Tell me what happened?"

"Do you know the reason why I joined the Warriors?" I asked, not meeting his eyes.

"No," he said calmly. "Just tell me what happened?"

"I didn't join you because I hated womenkind or I wanted to explore the world or anything." I said bluntly, and looked up. "I joined because I didn't want to feel weak again, Percy. I didn't want to let the Fates play with me again. I wanted to leave behind my previous life of pain and misery and start a new one."

"Don't worry," he said, smiling reassuringly. "Your life will be better, that's a god's promise."

"The gods have never been known for keeping their promises."

"I'm different, you'll see." He smiled, and walked back inside. "And it's late. Get some sleep. We've got a training session tomorrow, and there's no place for late comers."

_Alright_, I told myself. _Come on Nico, be strong. Time for some good night's sleep._

_

* * *

_CLANG!

Drew's sword fell out of his hands and hit the floor with a clanging sound.

"Ha!" I said, pointing my sword at him. "Three to none. Who's next?"

I looked around to see if anyone was willing to fight, only to find most of them sitting on the ground, looking exhausted. Only the older guys were still practicing.

"Come on, guys!" Percy called, or should I say 'Lord Perseus'? "Get up and continue your training."

"Water!" Matt panted. "I want water!"

"Okay." Percy snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a wave of water thrashed on Matt, and in an instant, it was gone. "I gave you water. Now you get down and give me fifty."

"I'm just thirteen, Commander!" He whined.

"Yeah, but you are a Warrior. With your enhanced attributes, it should be child's play for you."

"Enhanced what?" I asked stupidly.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Percy said, smiling. "You guys now possess enhanced strength, speed, stamina, agility reflexes. It'll help you survive I battles."

"O-kay," said Jake, his face scrunched in thought. "So that's how we were able to survive the Drakons?"

"Yep," said Percy casually. "It takes dozens of average demigods to beat one ordinary Drakon, let alone a Scymanthian Drakon. I believe you remember our first war, Jake?"

"Yeah," Jake said, shaking his head as if to get rid of the memories.

"And I want to make one thing clear," said Percy. By now, everyone had stopped their training and were listening to him. "You still _have _your demigod abilities. I repeat, you still have your demigod abilities. You all saw Nico during the battle, right? So use them during the missions."

"Really?" Drew asked, stepping forward. "That means I can still use my magic?"

"Magic?" Nick, a twelve year old son of Nemesis, asked surprisedly. "Did you say magic?"

"Yes," Drew said. "My mother's Hecate. I know some magic."

"Good," said Percy. "This is certain to come in handy. Yes Drew, you can still use your magic. But you need training."

"Okay," Drew said happily.

Then Percy clapped his hands to call everyone's attention. "Now, listen up everyone. We've got two weeks to train before we leave for our next mission. I want all of you to train as hard as you can, both physical training and your demigod powers, Okay? Now, back to training."

So, after a bit of Matt's whining, we started our training again.

**

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**

**Yeah, I know. I'm REALLLLLYYY late! And it's kinda filler chapter. But honestly, I'm going through a block, and my Board exams are so near that I'm becoming insomniac. So forgive me. The updates will be faster and better after March. Review! And most importantly, keep reading!**


	6. Chapter 6: Things Get Serious

CH 6

**A/N: Hi readers. My exams are over. Guess what that means? Faster updates! YAY! Let's get on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: PJatO ain't mine.**

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**Percy's POV**

Was it my imagination or was she actually grinning when she saw us approaching? I'm not sure.

"Lady Athena," I said, giving a small bow. My Warriors did the same.

"Good to see you Perseus," she said good-naturedly, and honestly, it was a first. I was mildly surprised, but I maintained my formal demeanor.

"Good to see you, too. Here's the Fang of Maurus." I presented her the foot-long fang.

Truth to tell, procuring this fang was far easier than our last three favors: slaying the Scymanthian Drakons, killing the Giant of Dawn and capturing the rebellious spirits who had fled from the Underworld. But I didn't mention it to Athena. Still, it confused me why she had started going easy on me. Maybe because I was no longer with Annabeth.

Whatever it was, I was glad. Being on the bad side of Athena wasn't good, not even for a god.

She touched the fang and it disappeared. "Thank you."

Our meeting was over, so I turned to leave. "Warriors, let's move."

"Percy," Athena called, just the moment I turned. "Do you have a minute?"

"Yes, of course. What is it?"

She looked at the Warriors unsurely, and I knew what she meant. So I told my Warriors to leave. She lowered her head, as if ashamed of something, and we stood there in silence. After a minute or so, just when I was about to speak, she looked up.

"I just wanted to say…" She took a deep breath, looked me in the eye, and said, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what my daughter did to you."

I was startled. "What?"

"I'm _apologizing_, kelp-head!" She looked irritated. "Because it wasn't fair, what you went through."

"You don't have to apologize for that," I said calmly. "And I've already forgiven Annabeth."

"You're kind." She sounded grateful. "Thank you."

"Anything else, Lady Athena?"

"No," she said, taking a step back. "You may leave."

With one last smile, she disappeared. I turned around and left, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

***line break***

On my way back from Zeus' palace, I couldn't stop grinning. Maybe I looked stupid, but I didn't care. Finally, I'd be able to bless my Warriors with Immortality.

The Warriors were huddled up in the middle of the training hall, having a heated discussion. Soon as I entered, all the voices died down. They all looked up at me nervously.

"They agreed," I said, which was followed by loud roars of 'YAY!'s and 'WOOHOO!'s. Some of the Warriors jumped up and hugged each other frantically, dancing at the same time, yelling, "We did it! We did it!" Some wolf-whistled, and some others just grinned. Drew summoned a music system with his magic, and loud music started thumping.

"Let's PAARTEH!" He yelled while dancing, and others followed. It was a moment of celebration, so I made my contribution. With a snap of my fingers, a disco ball appeared along with a soda-vendor machine. We all started to dance.

After three hours of madness, we all left the training hall, exhausted. It was almost midnight, so everyone started toward their room.

After that day, we became the ultimate war machines. We started training super hard, traveling from place to place, learning many arts and fighting styles- Judo, Ninja, Wushu, you name it. The Warriors were very quick learners, which helped a lot. We spent much time hunting monsters, doing my father's jobs, avoiding Artemis and her Hunters, and keeping the world going basically. Many wars came and went by- some with heavy bloodshed, while others insignificant- and the Warriors proved to be really valuable. We recruited many men and sadly, lost a few. Years passed, and our sacrifices didn't go in vain.

I was made a major god with Hestia, which balanced the Council. You should've seen the look on Artemis' face: priceless! I got the feeling that keeping away from her gang was not going to be lot tougher now, and I was right. Our arguments- which involved her rambling about men's cruelty and dominance, and me explaining the increasing disloyalty and evilness of women with the changing times- got louder day by day, always ending with her threats to strangle me. I never wanted us to be on bad terms, partly because I respected her and partly because it wasn't good for the Council. But she had other plans.

"Be cautious, Warriors. And quiet," I whispered. "Watch your step. We're going to pass this place without any trouble."

We were passing through a thick rain forest. The night sky was starry but moonless, so it was pretty dark. We were following the path of a small river. It was a good travel pattern as we could use the river to our advantage in crisis.

"Trouble?" asked Raymond, a fifteen year old son of Athena. "What kind of trouble, my lord?"

"The Hunters. They've camped here," I told them, and Nico's features turned grim. "We don't wanna grab their attention, now do we?"

"What harm can they possibly do?" It was Matt. "We're way better than those Hunters."

"Choose your words wisely, Warrior. We don't want them as our enemies."

"Aw!" A voice came from behind. "The Lord of Tides id afraid of little girls?"

"Artemis," I said calmly, and turned around.

"Perseus," she snarled, jumping down from a tree. Her voice was filled with contempt.

"What do you want?"

"Payback," she said, staring at me with those unnerving silver eyes.

"What?" I was surprised. _What the hell is she talking about?_

"Yes, payback!" she hissed. "You go around with your lot acting like men are all innocent and harmless, while women are wicked and untrustworthy, don't you?"

I sighed for the umpteenth time. "No, I don't."

"Yes, you do!" she shouted back. "Men were never the equals of women, never will they be. You have insulted us by your acts, and you will pay!"

She shot a blazing arrow in the night sky with amazing speed, yelling "Hunters!" and her sisters-in-arms appeared from everywhere. We were surrounded.

"Warriors," I said. "You know what you have to do."

My men took their stance, ready to defend as I had told them. I didn't want any blood loss, so I forbid them to do offense.

With Artemis' battle cry, it started. The Hunters started off firing arrows from everywhere. Some hid in the trees while others stood on land. A few of them used hunting knives, attacking as fiercely as wild cats. There were fifteen of us, while the Hunters were about three times as much. I could see my Warriors dodging and deflecting arrows, while I took on Artemis. She kept firing her arrows at me with unbelievable speed, but I kept dodging effortlessly. I was mildly surprised, but so many years of hard training has it's advantages, I guess.

"Olympians are not supposed to fight each other," I tried to talk some sense in her. "This is not good, Artemis."

She just ignored me. "I will get back our lost respect. I'll make you pay for it!"

And then she resorted to her hunting knives, cutting and slashing the air wildly. I had to keep my mind cool. She kept coming, while I blocked and dodged her moves. She started getting tired after a while, and her attacks slowed down.

"This isn't right, Artemis. You have to stop this." I tried again.

"No way!" _Gods, she's acting like a child!_

It was clear now that she wouldn't budge, but I didn't want this. Nobody did. So I was forced to call off my Warriors. "Retreat, my brethren!"

All the Warriors jumped into the river, and the Hunters started jeering and shouting out complaints.

"So much for the god of valor," Artemis sneered, and I jumped into the water, too.

At our own camp, Damon was furious, and why wouldn't he be? He was the lieutenant, after all. "You should've let us kick their butt, Commander."

"No," I said sternly. "We don't fight the innocents, we fight evil."

"Yeah, right. Innocent," he grunted. "The way they wanted nothing but to kill us. I'm sure they're not evil, just totally innocent little girls."

The days that followed were hard for us, what with the Hunters trying to play those stupid pranks on us? We easily spotted their tricks, but it was still irritating.

"Oh, just let them fight us once more!" Damon muttered grudgingly one day. "Then I'll show 'em who's the boss."

I sighed. I didn't know if Artemis was going to stop anytime soon, but I didn't want to fight them. It just felt wrong. I knew one thing though: the frustration was building among my Warriors, and it wouldn't be long before their tolerance exhausted. They wanted to show the Hunters their true skills.

Another time we got into a clash with the Hunters, I told my men to do only defense. We fought till they got totally drained, trying everything they had. I told my Warriors to back off when I realized we didn't have much to do, since their bows were empty. The last thing I saw before vanishing was Artemis yelling in frustration, "Urghh!"

I knew at the very moment that it was a solid blow to her pride. The pranks and booby traps were going to get a lot more dangerous. We just had to be careful.

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**A/N: I know this chapter is short and covers a lot of time, but as some of you rightly said, the story needs to move on! So, here it is.**

**I wanted to ask you one thing. How many of you still read Percabeth? I have a Percabeth AU story in mind, though I'm not sure if I should start it. Tell me if you'd like it.**

**Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7: Enough Is Enough!

CH 7

**A/N: Hey, guys (and gals, but we generally say 'guys')! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: You're stupid if you think I own PJatO.**

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**Damon's POV**

"Be careful, lieutenant." Lord Perseus said as he passed me, going towards his tent.

"Yes, sir." I was on night patrol.

We were camped at a clearing in a forest. I was sitting on a large rock with my sword standing vertically on the ground, my chin resting above the hilt. If I told you I was pondering over the events of the past few weeks, that'd be true. But mostly, it included silently cursing the Hunters. _Who the hell do they think they are?_ I thought angrily.

_Swoosh! _An arrow zoomed past me, which would've taken my shoulder off had I been a bit slower. I got up swiftly and proceeded in the direction from which it had come. I sensed danger, but I went alone. It was really dark once I was inside the forest.

Another one, and then another whizzed past me, but I dodged them easily. More followed, but I kept evading them. Suddenly, Hunters came out of nowhere and I was surrounded by about ten or eleven of them. Some of them were still hiding in the trees, I could feel it. They shot at me again, but I jumped up and raised my sword for an attack. But then I remembered the orders I had been given, and reluctantly took to defense. It's hard not to get yourself killed when you're cornered by an angry group of girls who know combat, trust me. And it's even harder when you're not allowed to attack. But I kept it up for a good measure of time. I know I should've called for help, but something inside me didn't let me do that. Maybe it was my pride, my self-esteem, whatever.

"You cannot win, weakling!" It was a girl about my age, fifteen.

"Yeah? Well, we'll see." I shouldn't have let her distract me, because that's when everything went wrong. Out of the blue an arrow came and penetrated itself in my back, coming out from my lower ribs. I gasped in pain, staggering, but held my stance. I couldn't breathe properly, yet I continued to defend, now slower and less accurate.

Gradually, I started getting exhausted, nevertheless their arrows kept coming. I missed most of them, but I wasn't fast enough, and more of them impaled me- one through my shoulder, making me groan in pain; one in my thigh; and another nearly missing my head- which left me handicapped. But I guess that wasn't cruel enough for them. They started attacking with their knives, cutting my skin barbarically, while I tried to dodge as much as my crippled body would allow. I took one last gash at my chest, and then I couldn't stand anymore. I fell with a heavy _thud_, and my senses began to close, starting with my eyesight. The Hunters were just blurs in the dark now.

"What now?" one of them asked.

"Let's get to camp before Lady Artemis wakes up."

My eyes closed in pain, and my breathing became ragged. One of them kicked me in the stomach, hard. "This is what you get for insulting us, scum!"

With that, they started moving, one of them treading over my fingers, and I was left to die in the woods.

**Percy's POV**

I woke with a start, feeling something wrong. I got out of the tent, but I couldn't see Damon anywhere. Where could he have gone? I started toward the forest, searching for my missing lieutenant. After a while, I heard a painful groan, so I rushed in that direction. I was horrified by what I saw. It was Damon, covered in deep wounds, arrows sticking out of him.

"Who did this to you?" I asked concernedly, kneeling down beside him quickly. I began taking out his arrows, which was as painful for me as it was for him.

"Hunters," he managed to get out. It wasn't unexpected, but it filled me with rage. I took out another arrow from his back, and he roared.

"How many?" I knew one or two Hunters couldn't take down one of my best Warriors.

"About fifteen of them," he muttered through painful breaths, then smiled. "Got me by surprise. Next time, I'll surely kick their butt."

_Outrageous!_ I thought. _Fifteen on one?_

It was cruel, no other words for it. And cruelty wasn't forgiven here. I conjured some Nectar and Ambrosia, and treated his wounds. Then I carried him to medical-care tent, put him on the bed, and woke Asterix up.

"Take care of Damon and heal him while I see to some business," I told him, then added as an afterthought, "Wake Brian and tell him to stand on guard duty."

With that settled, I left to deal with Artemis. It had gone past limits. The moment I arrived at their camp, I yelled, "Artemis!"

The whole camp gathered up in seconds. Artemis came last with a look of surprise and disdain on her face.

"What do you want, fish-face?" She mocked. Some of the Hunters laughed.

"I never thought you'd stoop that low," I grumbled, barely able to contain my anger.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Perseus," she said simply.

"Oh, really? Ask your Hunters then," I spat angrily.

She turned to face her Hunters. "Will anybody tell me what this guy's talking about?"

Some of the Hunters developed a sudden interest in the ground below them while others just looked bewildered.

"I have no clue as to what your intentions are, Perseus." She was facing me now. "But if you've come in the dead of night to disturb my sleep-"

"My intentions?" I said incredulously. "Your Hunters attacked one of my Warriors!" My voice cracked at the last word.

She looked taken aback, but quickly recovered. "No, they won't do such a thing. They had no orders to do so."

"I believe these are yours?" I conjured some broken blood bathed arrows.

She examined them for a moment, hesitating. "Yes. But that doesn't prove anything."

"I took them out of my injured Warrior's body. He could've died, for Zeus' sake! The sky thundered. "He was badly wounded when I found him. What is the meaning of this, I ask?"

"As I told you, my Hunters didn't do it, they just can't. I gave no such orders," she said defending, then added, "Maybe you just stole some of our fallen arrows and are fooling around dipping it in deer blood or something."

That's when I decided I couldn't take it anymore, unconsciously crushing the arrows in my hand. When I spoke up, I was surprised how dangerously calm I sounded. "I never wanted this. But what you've done now, that's enough."

"What?" She looked confused.

"Enough!" My anger broke out. "Let's have it your way. You've made the worst enemy you can think of, Artemis. You will regret this day forever, I promise." With each word, her eyebrows arched higher. "I was keeping my Warriors under control till now, but not anymore. The next time you meet us, it'll be the end of the Hunt, when the Hunters get hunted. You will pay heavily for this transgression!"

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**A/N: I know, by now most of you must be thinking, **_**Where the heck is Pertemis?**_** Actually I'm not really good at writing romance, so I'm trying to make the story a bit spicy. I'm also reading Twilight, which I thought I'll never read, for some tips.**

**Y'know, yesterday I was on the verge of crying. The reason, I didn't get any reviews, or atleast I thought so. Actually my email service decided to play with me a bit, so all the alerts were sent to spam, and I didn't know. When I checked the spams, I was so relieved that I wrote this whole chapter today. Thank you all, readers! I love you so much.**

**Here are the answers to some reviews.**

_**LadyMysteri**_**: You can expect that. BTW, what was that last part? Do you like Joe?**

_**ApollosGirlSunny**_**: Yeah, I chose the title for the same reason. Thank you. Just keep reading, no need of a haiku. ;)**

_**curve-goddess**_**: No, Annabeth's done, I think.**

_**The Gamer Dude**_**: Pervybeth?**

_**eltigre221**_**: Yes, both of them are alive.**

_**iamasuperhero**_**: You'll have to wait for that, sorry. Please bear with me.**

_**PurpleRose328**_**: Thank you. Keep reading!**

_**ORION**_**: Damon's their lieutenant. Yeah, I'm in 12****th****. About ADHD, well… it's just a penname. I like the word. And you're from India, too? Great! PM me! :D**

**So, here it is. I'll update soon. The Percabeth story will be up in a couple of days. Thanks!**


	8. Chapter 8: Bitter Truth

CH 8

**A/N: Hi! Let's begin the next chapter. But before that, here are the replies to some of the reviews.**

_**iamasuperhero**_**: I read it. It's good. Keep reading!**

_**the ghost king**_**: Miracles happen when gods are involved, my friend. And yeah, Artemis is experienced, but Percy and his Warriors train harder, much harder than the Hunters. So they're better. Even if you disapprove, please just assume it for the sake of the story. Apollo will be involved, too. But in a different way, because nobody messes with Percy either. Thanks a lot!**

_**StroodleMuffin**_**: LOL I don't think I'm worthy of that, yet. :)**

_**ApollosGirlSunny**_**: Okay, you can write me a haiku. Heh! But no Thalico. I don't like that pairing actually. Mostly because of their BIG age difference. That's why I don't approve of Lukabeth either. Anyways, thanks for the review. Keep reading!  
**

_**crazymonkey5000**_**: But he is, didn't you notice?**

_**Poseidon93**_**: Yeah, I'll try. Thanks!**

_**Sethluver16**_**: Yeah, she's still Percy's friend, kind of.**

_**poseidon262**_**: Thank you :D**

_**Emma Cahill**_**: Hehe… I don't mind your outbursts as long as you keep reviewing. ;)**

_**DiamondDragonFang-Pertemis**_**: LOL yeah. Not sure about that gory fight scenes part though. Anyways, did you check out my Percabeth story.**

**Everyone else, THANKS! Keep reading.**

**Disclaimer: Rick wanted to sell me PJatO, but I rejected the offer. No one can write it the way he does.**

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**Artemis' POV**

I silently entered the Warriors' camp, hiding myself well from the eyes of the boy who was on night patrol. Only one tent looked illuminated, a dim yellow light coming from inside. I made my way to that one, moving swiftly. As I peeked in, a chill ran down my spine. Lying on the bed was a boy badly bruised and cut. _He must be the one Perseus was talking about_, I thought.

I returned to our camp, feeling sorry for that guy. But I still couldn't believe that my Hunters had done this. They were waiting outside, looking eager.

"He was telling the truth," I said reluctantly.

Some of them gasped and some just looked shocked, eyes wide. "Those guilty, please step out." None of them did, so I had to ask them threateningly. "If I found out myself, the punishment will be harsh."

A group of some fifteen Hunters came forward, heads bowed down. I was stunned for a moment.

"Why?" My voice was quiet and hollow. No one answered. I got a grip and then spoke, "Did you have any orders?"

"No," one of them said meekly.

"Then WHY?" I was angry, and hurt at the same time.

Alice, the eldest among them, stepped in front. "We're sorry, m'lady. We just wanted them to taste our power. They should learn not to underestimate us."

I mentally face-palmed myself. It was all my fault. Perseus had not been kidding when he had said all that. We were in serious trouble, and I was the reason for that. I hated myself for my childish behavior. If I hadn't acted like that, all of us would be safe.

I let them go and sat in my tent, head resting in my hands, trying to think of a way to stop Percy. It's not like I was scared of him or anything, but the reality was bitter. We had no chance against the Warriors. I had complete faith in my sisters-in-arms, but in front of the Warriors, they'd be like barbie-dolls. _Tough brats_, I thought miserably.

Thalia, my faithful lieutenant, could always read my thoughts. This time was no different.

"Don't worry, Lady Artemis," she said soothingly. "He was just angry, nothing else. He won't do anything reckless. I know him, that Seaweed Brain." I couldn't help but smile at that. ""He was just hurt. Couldn't stand seeing one on his men injured. You would've done the same in such a situation."

True. "But the look on his face, did you see it? He wasn't lying."

Even Thalia hesitated for a moment at that, but quickly regained her composure. "So what? Let him unleash his full force. So will we. We can easily defeat that bunch of losers, you know that."

I wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that the Warriors would crush us. But I decided to stay silent. I didn't want to discourage my best Hunter. Thalia left.

I sighed. _Whatever will happen, only time can tell_, I thought before going to bed. _No need to worry about it now and ruin your sleep._

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Yawning, I got up and went outside. The Hunters were already up and packing up. I saw an eagle soaring above us, moving in circles. I knew what it meant. I held my arm in front of me, and the bird landed on it.

"I bring a message from Lord Zeus." It's voice was heavy and rough.

"What is it?"

"Your presence is required at Lord Zeus' palace this evening." It was an order.

"Tell him I'll be there." With that said, the bird flew up and disappeared in the sky.

I wondered what it could be about. It worried me the whole day. Could it be about our clash with the Warriors? Did Perseus tell the Council about what my Hunters had done? Maybe it was just going to be a regular meeting.

In the evening, I told Thalia to take charge, and left for father's palace. When I entered, I was surprised to see that there were no other gods in the Throne room, just Lord Zeus. I bowed down. "Good evening, my lord."

"Ah, Artemis. How are you, my daughter?"

I looked up. "I'm fine, m'lord. Thank you."

He stood up and then shrank into human size. Coming closer, he said, "I'm talking to you as your father right now. You can call me father, or Dad. It's been a while since I herd it from you." He chuckled good-naturedly, and it broke the tense atmosphere. I relaxed a bit, and smiled.

"Now, what am I hearing? You are being a bad girl." He looked at me with false disapproval.

My face hardened. "So, he told you, didn't he?"

"No, he didn't." He smiled. "And trust me, he won't tell me even if you tried to murder him. He likes to deal with his problems on his own. No, I have my own sources. But we're not here to discuss what your Hunters did. What is done, is done. I'm warning you though. You know Perseus. When he's good, he's sweet. But," he paused dramatically. "When he's bad, he's horrible! Don't worry. He is thoughtful, he won't do anything rash. But from now on, you should be careful."

"Yes, father." Hmm, maybe Perseus wasn't as bad as I had always thought.

"And now, to the main thing." He became serious. "There's been an uprising of monsters. They're creating disturbance in the mortal city of New York. Demigods have vanished, mortals are missing, too. You should go check on it."

I nodded. "Is there anything else, my lord?"

"No, you may leave." He turned and began to grow into his godly size. When he sat on his throne, I bowed and left.

I appeared on the campsite, and the heads turned. "Hunters, pack up!" I announced. "We're leaving for New York."

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, filler. You can ****complain, I won't mind. But I promise I'll update soon. Just stick to the story and keep reading. That's all I'm asking for. I lost a few readers, I guess. :(*sigh* But I'll keep writing even if I have a single reader! Anyways, you people are the best!**

**Thank you!**


	9. Chapter 9: Let's Cool Off

CH 9

**A/N: Hello! This week was so much fun! I'm really enjoying my holidays. Anyways, here's another chapter. I hope you like it. And I'm EXTREMELY sorry for not updating sooner. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJatO (and I hate this part).**

_**andy: **_**That was sweet! Thanks, though all of it isn't true. I took a lot of time to update at times. Anyways, keep reading!**

_**Twilight Chick 01****: **_**So, uh… in English, that means you are a new reader? LOL :D Thanks for the review!**

_**The Gamer Dude****: **_**No problem, dude. Keep reading!**

_**Daughter of the sea: **_**I don't like fluff, and I hate overfluff. There won't be ****much, I warn you.**

_**Electronic Bookworm****: **_**We'll see, dude. Maybe I'll do the war.**

_**Luvtoread: **_**Okay, here. You have another chapter. :)**

_**magicflower23684****: **_**I'm glad you brought up your doubt. See, Percy is a minor god, and a new one at that. Also, Drakon poison is too dangerous. Gods get tired, too. And no, he doesn't have his invulnerability now. He lost it after becoming a god, I should've mentioned it.**

**THANK YOU readers! You are all awesome!**

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**Percy's POV**

_The moon_, I thought. _Only now I realise how beautiful it is._

I was sitting on a beach, alone in the moonlit night. I watched the tides, high and low; the sea trying to touch that shiny orb in the sky, the moon. It had always had a great impact on the tides… on me. But I had never really cared about it, until now. But why now?

_Artemis_, I thought, and suddenly, I was filled with anger, so bad that I wanted to reach out there and crush the moon with my bare hands. _I hate moon!_

"But do you?" A voice spoke from inside me. I stood up to look into the heavens, all the anger inside me gone, to see the moon melting into the shape of a lady, a familiar looking huntress. She descended on the earth with such grace that my eyes were glued to her. Her beauty, her elegance, everything about her was so incredible, I couldn't help but stare. And then she smiled.

_Gods, her smile!_ It made my heart skip a beat. How could something be so soo beautiful? She landed softly beside me, and started coming closer, slowly, smoothly. I looked into her eyes, and passed into oblivion. Suddenly, her eyes turned angry, full of hatred. Before I could come out of my stupor, she pushed herself toward me with swiftly.

"Erghhh!" I cried as something penetrated my abdomen, hard. I looked down to see blood pouring out of my stomach, and a long hunting knife in her hand. As I looked up, I saw loathing in her eyes, and only one word escaped my mouth, "Why?"

She looked at me bitterly for one second, and I knew what was coming. With one loud cry, she raised her knife again and stabbed me in the chest.

"Ahh!" I launched up abruptly, looking around stupidly, rubbing my eyes. "Huh?" _What the hell? I'm gonna kill Morpheus!_

I went to check on Damon, the previous night rushing back in my head. I was calm and in control, and maybe what I said last night had been a bit of an overkill. I mean, come on, I was a little mad at that time. Okay, maybe a lot! But I was not going to hunt them down, those Hunters.

"Why not?" That strange voice inside of me asked.

"Um… the Council is still above us," I told it, out loud. "I don't want the gods to take sides and fight each other."

"Bah, bullshit!" It said teasingly. "You're the man! You can't forgive what they did to your lieutenant so easily. They deserve punishment!"

"Shut up!"

"Uh… Commander?" It was Rusty, demigod son of Hermes. "Who are you, uh… talking to?"

_Shit._ "Oh, nothing. It's nothing," I said, trying a smile. He gave me a that-was-really-lame look. Perhaps my awesome powers of persuasion didn't work this time. "How's Damon?"

He looked at me, confused. "Why? What happened to him?" _Shit again!_

"Uh… nothing," I said hastily. "Seriously, nothing at all."

I turned around and started walking toward the medical-care tent quickly. I could only imagine what my Warriors would do if they got to know about what happened last night. The very thought made me shudder. Poor Hunters… I'll have to control my boys, but we'll have to be more careful from now on. The Hunters could cross any limits to protect their pride.

Now when I came to think of it, we were not like the Hunters. I never hated women, and I didn't teach my Warriors to hate them either. I always taught them to respect them, unlike Artemis and her girls, who simply _hated_ men. But I knew their nature all too well, and my boys knew never to let their guard down.

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By midday, everyone in our camp got to know about what had happened with Damon the previous night. It was just like I had expected. They went nuts, swearing and complaining like hell! They began to hate the Hunters, if not women, and hate with a passion. They craved for revenge, every one of them. They wanted to rip the Hunters limb from limb. I could sense it, and it wasn't good… for anyone.

"Guys, guys, guys! The hunters have learned their lesson." I tried to keep them calm. "They won't dream of doing such a thing again."

It was useless, no surprise there.

"I'll show them who's the boss here!"

"Screw you Hunters!"

"Ugh! I'm gonna kill those bitches!"

"Whoa!" I shouted above their swearing. "Enough, guys! Calm down, we'll see about it when we come across them next time."

"How can you expect us to calm down, Commander?" It was Nick, son of Nemesis. "This is outrageous!"

I sighed inwardly. This is what you get for raising your men as brothers. Too much backtalk. But well, I had to live with it. I didn't like too much respect anyways.

"Y'all need to cool off a bit, and I know the best place for that." I said with a smile. They all looked up, suddenly interested in what I had to say.

"Commander, you don't mean-?"

"Yes, my father's palace." I said cheerfully, and it lightened them up significantly. Cries of joy broke out, everyone forgetting about last night's incident. I knew it would work. They had been to Poseidon's realm just once, and they had _loved_ the place since then. Well, what can I say? The place really _is_ stunning.

So yeah, we were off to my dad's palace. I wondered what the Hunters were up to.

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**A/N: *sigh* I know it's short, but that's all I can give you right now. I have no excuses. It's just… I had a major block, and I'm still going through it. So… sorry. I'll try to bring the next chapter soon. Thanks everyone!**

**Read and review!**


	10. Chapter 10: Apollo's Request

CH 10

**A/N: Yeah, you all have the right to shoot me for not updating sooner. But this is sooner than the last 'soon'. ;) Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: (Gods! Do I have to mention this in every single chapter?) I don't own PJatO.**

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**Percy's POV**

"Commander, when are we gonna get back to land?" Phillip, a son of Apollo asked.

"Dude, you kidding me?" It was Nico. "This place is friggin' awesome! I wanna stay here like, forever!"

I chuckled. "Well, that can be a problem. But seriously, is there something wrong, Phil? Don't you like it here?"

"No," he replied hurriedly. "It's just… I've got a bad feeling about this. Something might be happening up there." He looked tensed.

"Ah, come on!" Nico said, butting in. "If something major happens, the gods will let us know, won't they? It's been only three days. Just drop that worried look already and have fun!"

Wow! He was rarely this cheerful. But I gotta say, Nico sans his usual depressive aura is a good company after all.

"I have to agree with Nico. Enjoy yourself while you can, Phil. As of now, the Hunters are there to look after the land activities."

I smiled and turned back to leave for a walk through the palace. As I neared the threshold, I heard Nico say, "Speaking of Hunters, I hope some of them get eaten by a nasty monster." They laughed quietly.

_Oh dear_, I sighed. _So they haven't forgotten about it yet._ We couldn't stay here for long. Now all I could wish for was not to cross paths with Artemis and her Hunters for as long as possible.

I was heading outside through the large hallway when suddenly, I heard voices. I proceeded in that direction. They seemed to be coming from an old empty room. One of them belonged to my father, and the other one-

"I warned you once before. Stop playing with my son, Aphrodite!"

Oh, so it was her. I wondered what she had done this time.

"What did I do?" Aphrodite's voice was full of mock innocence.

"Don't give me that!" Poseidon said stiffly. "Just drop the pretense. I know you're up to something."

"Now now, dear," she said in her sugarcoated voice. "Don't be so rude. Why would I mess with someone as good as Percy?"

A chill ran down my spine. _What? Why are they talking about me?_ I immediately pulled the curtain aside a bit and peeked inside.

"I have good reasons to believe so," he said in a serious tone. "His relationship with that daughter of Athena and the way things ended, you were behind it from the very beginning! It's all your doing!"

She gasped. "No, it wasn't! I just- I just perked things up a bit."

I was starting to get angry. Why did this woman have to screw with my life all the time? Ugh!

"I don't want to hear that crap. Just be warned. Go find someone else for your soap opera. But if you try to play with my son's life again, I'll-"

"Ooh, is that supposed to be a threat?" Aphrodite laughed.

"Have it your way," Dad said coolly.

Aphrodite just smiled. "I'm the goddess of love, honey. That's enough explanation."

She turned her head, winked at me, and disappeared the next moment. For a second, I was stunned out of my senses. Then I realised that Dad was still in there. If he saw me, it'd mean trouble. I backed off with a jolt and ran like hell, stopping only after leaving the palace. There was so much going through my mind, I was barely able to handle it. Why was she here? What did she want with me? What were they talking about? What was she up to? How did she know I was there? Arrrgh! There were like, a million questions popping up in my head!

"Hey Percy," greeted a familiar voice from behind. "How ya doin', man?"

"Fine." I turned around to look at Apollo, calming my façade. "Just fine. But your sister is becoming a real pain in the ass."

He looked nervous. "You won't do anything to her, will you?"

"Nah," I shrugged. "It's fine. Just irritating. But still, what her Hunters did lately, it was serious. If they repeat such sort of thing, I'll have to take action." Then I smirked and added, "But I doubt it. They know just as well as we know what we are capable of."

"Umm… yeah, okay." He still looked uneasy.

"So, why did you come here again? It's not just to visit your dearest cousin, is it?" I asked teasingly.

He didn't smile. "I just came to see if you're losing your temper with her. I'm worried about her, y'know. The way she's been acting lately, she's gonna get herself into trouble."

I said something real intelligent, like, "Uh… yeah."

Apollo looked so worried that I was surprised. He stood there for a moment, staring at his feet.

"Percy," he said suddenly, his tone almost pleading. "You won't hurt Artemis, will you?"

"Dude, seriously, what's wrong?" I asked, taken aback.

"It's just- I thought she'd do something serious to save her pride and you'll…" He looked as if he was on the verge of breaking down. "Promise me, Perce. If she does something, tell the Council. But promise me you won't harm her."

"Fine, I promise. I'll never hurt her," I said quickly. "Now just calm down, man!"

He suddenly looked happier, his shoulders relaxing considerably. "Well, now that you're not going to hurt her, can I ask you a favor?"

"Shoot."

"Can you keep her safe? For me?"

"Whoa, dude!" I was like, WHAT? "Artemis is a tough one. She doesn't need any saving."

"Please, Percy. I'll do anything. Just keep my baby sister safe," Apollo pleaded.

_Oh, come on!_

"She's been getting into a lot of danger recently, fighting terrible monsters and stuff. I've had some dreadful visions about her. I don't want anything to happen to her."

I knew that he cared deeply for his sister, which made me soften up. But there was one problem, a big problem I must say. "If she finds out we're following her, she'll be mad."

"Figure something out… please? You're the only one who can do this."

Man, what a drag. I sighed. "Alright, I'll do it. I'll keep her safe with all I have."

And the next second, Apollo was hugging me to death. "Thanks! Thanks a lot, Perce. You're like this little brother I never had."

"It's _okay_!" I patted him, feeling awkward. I never knew Apollo was this emotional.

He let go and said, "Thank you, Percy. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it," I said, just before he turned around and teleported.

Walking back to the palace, I sighed, reflecting over what I had just done. It was a big promise, considering the fact that I was finding it hard to keep my temper with the moon goddess. As I entered our room, I just hoped that maybe things would get better now.

"Guys, it's time to get back to surface."

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**A/N: Really short, I know. But this is all I have. Atleast this was a quicker update. The next one will be even quicker. Thanks for sticking with me up until now…**

**Review! :D**


	11. Chapter 11: Keeping Promises Ain't Easy

CH 11

**A/N: Hey! *punched by a reader* Ow! What? *punched again* I'm sorry, I'm SORRY! :( The next update will be faster (hopefully xD).**

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**Percy's POV**

The second I told my Warriors about my conversation with Apollo, they all started to groan and complain about the stupid promise I had made to him.

"I don't mean any disrespect Commander, but out of all the people on the face of this planet, you vowed to save Lady _Artemis_?" asked Damon, aghast. "I mean, come on! The Hunters are our arch enemies!"

"They're not our enemies, Damon." I hesitated. "We just have some… issues."

"Yeah, right." He scoffed. _Gods! Why do they always act so disrespectful when I'm in my fifteen year old form?_

I said nothing, so George took the opportunity to yell another complaint. "Moreover, you've also provided them with eternal torturing rights over us and we can't do anything about it!"

I thought about it for a second, and then something clicked in my mind. "Well… I've vowed to save Artemis, not the Hunters. So…"

"So we can kill them?" Little Nick asked cheerfully, a gleam of hope in his eyes.

"No!" I laughed. "Not kill them. Mild use of force would suffice. But only if I give orders, understand?"

This seemed to cheer them up a bit.

"Now come on," I said. "We've got a goddess to protect."

For the next few days, we followed the Hunt closely and kept watch, but remained hidden. Unlike the Hunters, we didn't usually prefer being hidden and acting stealthy. Although my Warriors were much more trained in stealth (or pretty much anything) than the Hunters, and knew well how to remain hidden, we liked to face our problems head on. But the situation demanded it, so we had to.

In spite of their constant protests, I didn't let my brothers make tents or campfires or anything. That would be a dead giveaway. So we just hid in the bushes and trees, which was hard, considering we were in New York. The city reminded me of my previous life, and the urge to go meet Mom was just crazy, but I had a job to do, a promise to keep. But our cover was gonna blow up soon.

We were hiding in the trees and bushes roughly surrounding the Hunt. Asterix was hiding behind a thick bush, keeping close watch. All of a sudden, he jumped up narrowly dodging an arrow. I instantly recognized it as a Huntress' arrow. Another arrow was shot at him, and a Huntress came into view. I was shocked to see that it was Thalia. And we were screwed the very moment. She would definitely recognize a Warrior, I just knew it.

She blew her conch and in no time, Hunters appeared by her side. There was no use of hiding then, so we came down, too. Artemis came forward, smiling wickedly. She looked gorgeous. _Wait, what?_

"Now, now, now." She looked at me. "If it isn't Perseus and party…"

"Uh… Hello, Artemis." I tried to act innocent.

"Why are you spying on us?" She spat. _Damn! She was fast!_

"Wha- Spying? What makes you think- we weren't _spying_ on you!' I spluttered. _Gods, how will I ever explain this to her?_

"Well, then what are you doing here?"

"Hunting monsters, y'know," I said weakly. "The usual stuff."

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that?" She said derisively. "Of all the places in the whole wide world, you come to hunt monsters where _we_ are?"

"We didn't know you were here," I said, a bit too quickly. "It's just a coincidence, really."

The Moon goddess stared at me for a second, and then said, "It better be."

She then turned her back and left. I was dumbfounded. I didn't expect her to let the subject drop so easily. "Phew! We'll have to be more subtle from now on, guys."

**Artemis' POV**

I was furious after the recent encounter with Perseus.

_The nerve of that good-for-nothing scoundrel, he's stalking us?_ I thought angrily. _This is the limit! He needs a lesson._

We left the place the very moment. _i will not tolerate this! I will not allow this to continue! _He was trespassing our personal lives now.

Suddenly, an idea came to my mind and I smiled.

_That will teach him good_, I thought triumphantly.

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**A/N: I know it's the shortest chapter, but I wanted to end it here. And then there's the stupid everlasting writer's block! I'll try to update soon. Sorry again!**


	12. Chapter 12: The Heartless Goddess

CH 12

**A/N: Guess what? Here's another chapter. *is kissed by a crazy fan-girl* *"OMG! You're so awesome!"***

**Yeah Yeah, I know. Thank you very much! ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJatO. No I'm not THAT awesome!**

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**Percy's POV**

"Hphh… Hphhh… Hphhh…" I was running with all my strength, my heart pounding heavily in my chest, my breaths ragged and uneven. Something terrible was going to happen that night, I just knew it. There was no moon to illuminate the cold and dark never-ending jungle I was running through, and I had no idea where I was headed. But I _had_ to get out of this forest or else...

A chill ran down my spine, and I toppled for a moment, almost crashing on the dirt. But I regained my balance and continued running.

_I will not _not_ let this happen_, I thought angrily, strength seeping through my muscles. I wouldn't be able to bear the endless grief of someone's loss, to whom I had made a promise. NO, I was not such a weak man who wouldn't stand on his promise.

The density of vegetation was decreasing, I noticed. Soon I could see a huge wall in the distance, the forest coming to an end. As the wall came into full view, I gaped at it's vastness. It stretched in both the direction as far as the eye could see, and was really high. I had to get past it. So I backed a few steps, tightened my muscles, and ran for it. I put every ounce of my remaining strength in the jump, and the next second, I was flying through the air, far above the now tiny looking wall.

"Unghhh!" I let out a low groan as my right arm was jerked away in mid air by a tendril made of thick darkness itself. I took out my sword and cut the evil vine. A long really thick pole came into view. It seemed like I was in the middle of an arena. The pole went up to the skies and disappeared in the clouds. Someone was tied to it, a girl shining in blinding silver. It was the Moon goddess, struggling against the strong magical ropes tying her.

Another tendril came at me, grabbing my left leg. Before I could react, more of them attacked me, clutching every movable part of my body, rendering me immobile. I swore as my sword dropped down. I was hanging in mid air, frozen and useless. As I struggled against those vines, they got stronger, as if sucking energy from my body. I felt the last drops of strength flow out of me, and all I could do was curse and curse, as a large diabolic mass formed out of the darkness, barely visible. A malevolent laugh filled the arena, and a gigantic black dagger materialized into the beast's hand.

My heart started hammering like crazy. I was gonna fail, I was gonna fail, I was gonna FAIL! She was going to _die_! How could I let that happen? _Apollo will never forgive me. To hell with that! _I _will never forgive myself! _I had to do something, fast! But no matter how much I struggled, I couldn't free myself. Heck! I couldn't even _move_, much less free myself.

That huge demon raised the dagger over his head, ready to go in for the kill. Tears welled up in my eyes. I hadn't felt so helpless in my entire life.

"Percy," Someone called. I tried to locate the source of sound.

"Percy," came the voice again. _Where is it coming from?_

And the demon brought that huge dagger down.

"_Percy!"_

"NOOOOO!" I screamed.

It took me a few seconds to realize that it had been a dream, and that Nico had woken me up with a slap. My whole body was shaking, and I was sweating even though it wasn't hot inside the tent. That had been a really horrible dream. _Oi, Morpheus! What did I ever do to piss you off, eh?_

Then I looked at Nico's face, desperation and concern written all over it. "What's wrong, Nico?"

"A-are you alright, Commander?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, thanks for waking me up," I said, meaning it. "Now, why are you looking so troubled?"

"It's the Hunters," he said hastily. "They're in trouble. A _huge_ group of monsters is attacking them."

My muscles tightened. "How many?"

"I don't know," he said, unsure. "Maybe hundred, or more. There are a few Frost Giants, too. And the Hunters ain't holding out good."

_Shit!_ I jumped out of my bed and ran outside, changing into my Warrior outfit simply by thinking about it - hey, being a god had it's perks.

"Did you send the others to help?" I asked, Nico running beside me.

His face flushed. "Uh… No. You see, Damon was not exactly willing to save their butts when they tried to kill him so cold-bloodedly."

_Curse it!_ "What the heck, guys!" I yelled as they all gathered around me, running side by side. "Just go and rescue the Hunters already! Scatter!"

They all knew better than to argue with me in such a situation. We all dispersed as the monsters came into view. The Hunters were struggling hard in spite of their numbers, especially with those Frost Giants. They were bloody _huge_!

But the moment we stepped in, the battle began to level out. The shocked faces of Hunters were priceless! But we didn't have time to savor the delight. My brothers quickly took out the little ones like the Hellhounds and the Dracanae, while a few experienced ones dealt with the Frost Giants.

I went to find Artemis, and soon found her in the middle of the battle heat, fending off five Frost Giants at once, quickly changing positions, firing arrow after arrow at blinding speeds, but even that wasn't enough to keep them at bay. I jumped at one of them, my sword raised. Artemis stared at me with wide eyes, a look of complete shock on her face. A Giant took advantage of the opportunity and punched her while she wasn't paying attention.

"Artemis!" I yelled as she went flying, falling on the ground with a thud, golden Ichor coming out of a deep wound on her shoulder.

"God Flash!" I cried. It was a secret technique that I had developed in my early years as a god that gave the user a great burst of unimaginable speed for a short while, allowing ultra high speed combat. But there was a hidden snag: it used up so much muscular energy in a very small amount of time, resulting in a lot of weakness and body pain afterwards. But I couldn't worry about that at the moment. In less than a second, I beat them all, kicking and punching and headbutting in every possible direction, and then rushed to Artemis' side. She looked really bashed up, and there was probably an injury in her right leg, because she was clutching it, and she couldn't get up.

"Hey," I said in a strained voice, worried to death about her. "Can you move?"

"_No_, you idiot!" She cried, eyes closed in pain.

_Oh gods, oh gods, oh GODS! What do I do?_ I placed her slender body in my lap, feeling helpless and pathetic. _Don't panic, Percy. Don't panic. Calm down, you'll find a way._

WHOOSH! I barely dodged the fist another Frost Giant had swung at me, a new one this time. I took Artemis away from the reach of the Giant and then went back at it, anger giving me strength. As the Giant raised its large hand to strike again, I readied my sword and jumped. "HAAAAAAARRRHHHHH-uhh…"

For a moment, time slowed down. I was suspended in the air, my breath caught in my throat, my body numb, the Frost Giant's punch progressing toward me ever so slowly. I looked down to see Artemis, a look of absolute hatred on her face. And then I noticed her hunting knife, whole of it stuck in my ribs, and a few Moon arrows sticking out of my chest, abdomen and thigh. Our eyes met for a second, and she flashed away. The feeling came back, searing pain shooting through my body, and I was too stunned to move.

BAM! I was hit by the Giant's enormous fist before I could react, hard. It was nearly as big as my torso, and the impact shattered me. I went flying through the air, unable to stop myself as I crashed into a rock, only one question ringing in my head. _Why?_

I lay there on the ground, unable to move, bleeding like Hades, barely able to open my eyes. I couldn't breathe properly due to the arrows that had pierced my lungs, and my head was felt like it was gonna split. As I watched, Artemis took out her bow and killed the remaining few monsters in seconds. Her wounds didn't bother her in the slightest, and her leg seemed to be completely uninjured.

"But you promised!" A Frost Giant screamed before disintegrating into golden ash. "You promised you won't kill us if we helped…"

_So it had all been a trick, huh? Too bad I fell for it._ I was more shocked than angry, or even hurt. I had never thought she could stoop that low, but I was mistaken. She really hated me, so much that she'd try to kill me by trickery. It was almost laughable. I wanted to laugh at my own cursed luck.

_Heh!You never change, do you Artemis?_ Those were my last thoughts before my eyes closed and I passed into oblivion.

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**A/N: AAAAAND here it is! The quickest update yet! Love it? Loathe it? I don't care as long as you people review! xD Enjoy! And oh, thanks a lot CookieHunterOfArtemis for such a sweet and long review! ^_^ Also, 'screw life' you shouldn't do that. I'd really hate it if I lost a dear reader.  
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	13. Chapter 13: And They Say 13 Is Unlucky

CH 13

**A/N: Yo! Here's another chapter for y'all.**

**Disclaimer: Seriously, how many times do I have to tell ya? PjatO ain't mine!**

**Some Review-replies:**

_**Marie Elaine Cullen**__**: **_**LOL here's your chapter. Where's my cake? xD**

_**AkeOokami**__**:**_** Sorry, but I don't like fanfics with overly large chapters. And sorry that my chapter was short. I'm not getting much time to write lately, but I wanna give you people something.**

_**Iamtotallyluvinmylife**__**:**_** Umm… When I visualise it, the first thing that comes to my mind is Prince of Persia! xD So I guess the Warriors' outfit would be like his.**

_**Kills With A Gaze**__**:**_** By that, I meant knocked unconscious (because of serious injuries).**

_**Darth Lumiya Skywalker**__**:**_** o.O She's a strong girl and he deserves to suffer? That didn't make any sense to me. But anyways, Percy doesn't carry Achilles' Curse with him now. I mentioned it a few chapters back in a Review-reply. I personally think that Percy is too powerful as it is. Him being a god and that too with invincibility would be kind of an overkill, so yeah.**

**Thank you everyone for reading and giving your feedback! :D**

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**Artemis' POV**

We fled the scene before the Warriors could comprehend the situation. I had shot two targets with one arrow. Hopefully, the good-for-nothing sea god would remember this lesson and mind his own business from then onward.

I was content with my decision, but there was still one thing that bothered me. Even though it was all part of the plan, I still couldn't figure out why he had come to help us. I had made it pretty obvious many times that I loathed him and his Warriors. He had no obligaion to help us. Then why did he?

I sighed and tried to push the question out of my mind. He wouldn't be coming to help us again, ever. As we were setting up our tents, Thalia came to me, her eyes moist.

"What's the matter, Lieutenant?" I asked concernedly.

"Milady, why did you?" She asked quietly, her head hung low.

"Why did I what?" I tried to act innocent, though I already knew what she was talking about.

She looked me in the eye and spoke in a dangerous tone, "Why did you try to kill Percy?"

"Look now, Thalia." I tried to make her see my point. "I know that Percy's one of your best friends and that you care deeply for him, but he was being such a nosey jerk. I can't compromise with the Hunt's privacy, now can I?"

"But…" she started to say, but stopped instantly, looking down with a helpless expression on her face. It made me sad to look at her like this.

"Thalia, I'm so-"

"No," she cut me short. "I understand, Lady Artemis." Giving a small bow, she turned around and hurried to her tent, and I was left to reconsider my decision. _Did I really go overboard?_

***line break***

A loud thunder rumbled outside, and I woke up with a start. There were noises of water spattering on my tent. It had started raining. I got up and went outside. The winds were wild. A huge storm was developing. _What upsets you now, Father?_

Suddenly, a scary thought struck me. Somebody must've told him about what I had done! _Holy Heavens, what do I do now?_

Another thunder roared and Apollo materialised in front of me, looking frantic. He grabbed my hand and yelled over the loud storm, "Quick, Artemis! You have to hide!"

"What?" I was stunned.

"Father knows," he said, not letting go of my hand. "Oh, what have you done? Why in the name of Styx? This is all my fault!"

"Wha- what are you saying?" I was confused and scared. Apollo never acted like that.

"It was me. I sent him to protect you."

Lightning blazed in the distance. For a second, I couldn't comprehend what had happened. The sounds of the rain faded, and I was sucked into darkness; it was the same darkness that had clouded my mind, that had made me do those terrible things that I had done.

"I made him promise me," Apollo said, bringing me back to the harsh reality. He was now on the verge of crying. "He vowed to protect you with all he had. I thought you were incapable of defending yourself against all those monsters showing up recently. Gods, I'm so sorry!"

A tear rolled down my cheek. _What have I done?_ I fell to the ground, my knees buckling under mental agony I was going through. _I am a terrible person._

"Get up, Sis." Apollo took hold of my arms and lifted me up. "You have to hide."

"No," I whispered.

"What?"

"I won't hide," I said with a finality. "No."

"Are you crazy?" He shook me. "Father is _mad_ right now! And Poseidon will kill you the second he sets eyes on you!"

"I don't care, Apollo." I closed my eyes for a second, trying to stop the tears. If there was one thing I hated absolutely, it was crying. It showed weakness, and I wasn't weak! But there I stood, crying like a pathetic mortal. I _never_ showed any strong emotions, much less cry. But I just couldn't bear this. My conscience was crushing me inside, and all I could do was shed tears.

"But I do!" He bellowed. "I CARE! I'm not going to let them punish you!"

"They will find me eventually, Brother." I reasoned. "And then, the punishment will be harsher. I'm going to face the Council right now."

"Artemis," he pleaded. "Don't… please."

"Let me, Apollo." I stepped aside, ready to teleport to Olympus. "Instead of stopping me, go treat Percy's injuries. You owe him this much."

He sighed. "I'll be there soon. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for not trusting your abilities, for dragging you into this mess."

"It's okay," I said, composing myself. "Just go already."

And with that said, we both teleported away at the same time. I reached Olympus and slowly made my way to the throne room, expecting to see angry faces. Everyone was already present there except Poseidon, which made me relax a bit. So, I was not going to face instant demise. _What a relief_, I thought bitterly.

Bowing in front of my father, the King, I waited for him to speak,not changing into my godly form. Nobody spoke, an eerie silence enveloping the whole room. Horrible thoughts kept going through my mind.

"Artemis," Lord Zeus spoke up finally, sadness evident in his voice. "I'm so very disappointed in you, my dear."

I looked up, his eyes met mine, and I saw his grief. I silently bowed my head down again, unable to bear that look he gave me. "I was so proud of you, Artemis. Your chivalry in battle, the cause you stood for, the way you presented yourself, I was proud of everything. But all that shattered today."

His words hit me like scalding knives, breaking me inside. But I tried to hold myself steady, staying silent, waiting for him to continue. I deserved a sentence for my dreadful deeds. I would never forgive myself for what I had done to Perseus.

"Why did you do this?" he asked, but not in an authoritarian tone, rather a fatherly tone. "What's the meaning of all this?"

"I was a fool," I whispered, my voice brimming with anguish. "I don't know what got into me. I just… I…" My voice cracked, and I couldn't go on.

"After all these years, you still haven't grown up a bit," Zeus said, pity clear in his voice.

All other gods began discussing the matter. I could hear agreements as well as arguments, too incoherent to make sense. After a long debate, Lord Zeus spoke up at last. "If Poseidon was here, he would've been really harsh, as you might be knowing. But for now, we've decided your-"

"Wait!" It was Apollo. _Big brother to the rescue. Brilliant._ I had a feeling that instead of helping, he might worsen the matter.

"What is it, Apollo?" Athena asked.

"Father, it's my fault!" He said hastily.

"Wha- wait!" I said angrily.

"No, don't listen to her, Father." _Oh, Apollo. Why are you so dumb?_ "I sent Percy to protect her. Don't punish her, please. Her actions were in self-defense."

"Is that true, Artemis?" Father asked.

"Um… Partially." I gave a small nod.

"But still, what you've done is unacceptable," boomed lord Zeus. "There will be penalty."

"My lord, can I have a word with you in private?" Apollo requested.

"Permission granted. Everyone, disperse." All other gods vanished, and I also teleported outside the throne room. This was the standard procedure. I waited outside, nervously waiting for my call. I had no idea what was happening inside. That fool, Apollo. He was trying to save my neck again.

"Enter, Artemis" came Lord Zeus' voice after a while. When I went inside, Apollo was nowhere to be seen. Only Father stood there on his throne, and for a second, I thought I saw him smile. I sat down and kept my head low.

"It seems we have some special circumstances here," he said. "You are relieved from your punishment for now."

I instantly looked up. "What? But why? How?"

This time, he really did smile. "Technically, the Council cannot take action against you unless and until the victim demands it. And Perseus doesn't want you to be punished, it seems. So you're free to go."

I couldn't contain my shock. I had hurt him so much, and he was still being protective of me? Why? How could someone _be_ so nice? It just wasn't possible. Perseus was an intriguing man, really different from the others of his kind.

"Now don't just stand there, my dear." Zeus looked happy. "You owe him an apology, and gratitude. He's being taken care of at his palace."

"Yes," I said, coming out of my thoughts. "I'll go and talk to him right away."

With a bow, I teleported and left the throne room, still unable to digest the fact that Perseus Jackson had just saved me, again. As I reached Poseidon's palace, the view amazed me. It was my first time visiting the sea god's palace, and I had to admit, it was magnificent. The walls of greenstone and a certain marble gave the structure a remarkable appearance. And underwater, the effect was magnified tenfold. It was surrounded by an underwater garden, which didn't strike me as odd for some reason. The creatures that were roaming here and there were wonderful. Mermen guarded the entrance, and as I appeared, they gave a small bow. "State your purpose, Lady Artemis."

"I'm here to see Perseus," I said confidently.

"Do you have Lord Perseus' permission?" One of them asked.

"Uh…" I started.

"Let her in." It was Lord Poseidon, who had just come out of the palace.

The guards stepped aside to let me in. As I made my way inside, giving him a little bow, he looked at me indignantly and said, "If I hadn't promised to Perseus, I swear I would've killed you right there."

I didn't know what to say, so I kept my eyes low and followed him quietly. We walked through a few corridors and passed some halls, taking many turns on the way before we finally reached Percy's room. This palace was even larger than it looked outside. It felt weird walking through water, anywhere and everywhere. True, I didn't need to breathe, but it still felt strange.

Poseidon opened the door and held it open for me, so I went first. He left, not coming inside. There he was, lying shirtless on a grand bed, sleeping contentedly. As I neared him, my nervousness increased. I sat on the edge of his bed, watching him snore softly. It was so peaceful, I didn't want to wake him up. My sight moved down from his face to his body. He had a perfectly toned body, so perfect that it would make even Apollo jealous. I ogled at his muscly chest and those abs, captivated for a few moments before he shifted his body to my side. I realised what I had been doing, and got hold of myself. There was a strand of hair coming over his forehead. Without my meaning to, my hand moved of its own accord and brushed that strand of hair aside. He opened his eyes suddenly, and I blushed profusely. _What the hell is wrong with you, Artemis?_

"Oh hey," he said in a gruff voice, trying to get up, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles.

"Stay there," I said firmly, putting a hand on his shoulder, again involuntarily. A chill ran down my spine as my hand touched his skin. He looked at my hand for a second before easing back into a resting position.

"I- uh… I'm here to…" I stammered, unable to find the right words. "I came to apologize, for whatever I did. I'm really sorry, Perseus." And I meant it. I hadn't felt as much sorry for anyone or anything in my entire life.

"It's okay," he said gently. "Your actions were justified. I know we were intruding your privacy."

"It amazes me how considerate you are," I said what I had been thinking for a while. "You shouldn't have saved me from the Council's punishment, you know. I deserved it."

"You know, I _vowed_ to protect you," he said. "How could I so cruelly let them hurt you while I had the power to stop it? That would've been the most sinful thing I ever did."

My eyes moistened again. Why? Oh, why was this man so good? His kind behavior made me feel even more ashamed of myself. It would've been better if he acted rudely and yelled at me or _anything_ to let out his anger at me. "I… Perseus… Thank you."

"Not a problem," he said coolly, flashing me a smile. My heart paced for a second. "But don't expect the same from my Warriors. You have no idea how furious they are. Try to avoid us, because if your Hunters try anything again, my men will be out for blood. And I won't be able to stop them this time."

"I'll keep that in mind," I said in a small voice, getting up. "So, I guess I'll see you around."

"I hope not," he said smugly.

I laughed. "Yeah. And oh, Perseus, you don't need to protect me."

I gave him a warm smile and left. As the door closed behind me, I heard him shout, "Don't worry 'bout it!"

_Stupid_, I thought as I made my way out. Thalia was right. He was such a Seaweed Brain. As I thouht about him, a smile crept up my face. This guy was so different… so good.

***line break***

**A/N: So peeps, how was it? Good? Bad? Average? Meh! I don't care as long as you guys review. And I suggest you read "Percy Jackson and the Final Adventure" by Olympian Hero. He's an amazing writer, and updates way quicker than me. Also, it's his first fanfic, and it's Pertemis! What more can you ask for? Go read it or I won't update! :P Haha, kidding! Just read it anyways… as a favor to me? O_o Enjoy!**


	14. Chapter 14: Just An Apology Or More?

CH 14

**A/N: Sorry guys, I've been veeeeeeeeeerrrryyy busy. Here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy this. Sorry again.**

**Disclaimer: PjatO ain't mine.**

**Some Review-replies:**

_**another adhd kid i guess: **_**Hey, calm down kid. I don't really care if some dude has 79 or 790 ongoing stories. You have no idea how busy I've been. I'm sorry for updating so late, but seriously… Watch yer words please.**

_**bleach409**__**: **_**OMG! You just gave me an idea. Thanks!**

_**impatientkid: **_**I'm so very sorry that you had to wait for so long. ****"****she can't be falling that hard for a guy that's not me" made me laugh.**

_**AmberxxHazelxxCrimson**__**: **_**No, he isn't.**

_**chessrd**__**: **_**Well, Nico was too young when he joined the Warriors to be their Lieutenant. Also, I was kinda obsessed with The Vampire Diaries at that time, so…**

_**Spyrofan777**__**: **_**Thank you. I'm not really sure if you'll see any more of Annabeth.**

_**Olympian Hero**__**: **_**It was sudden? O_o Sorry about that. And hey, it's okay. Yours is a good story.**

_**AsakuraX**__**: **_**Thanks for the kind words. :)**

_**Winds of the Tides: **_**Aww! It really means very much to me. You don't know how happy I am. To have someone's first ever review feels great. I still remember the feeling when I was new. My review was on the same lines LOL**

_**hawaiiangirl808**__**: **_**Awyeah! And you get a gift hamper of virtual cookies for being our 400****th**** reviewer xD**

_**The Silence: **_**That's exactly what I meant by 'kill'. I know gods are immortal. And thanks a lot.**

_**iStoleYourBlueMoonIceCream**__**: **_**I'm glad you feel that way.**

_**Iamtotallyluvinmylife**__**: **_**Oh, you should play it. It's awesome! :D And thanks!**

_**Gold Testament**__**: **_**Thank you! To stir someone's emotions like that is all a writer dreams of. **

_**Syrlai**__**: **_**LOL thanks a tonne! :D**

_**mizzstargirl**__**: **_**Thanks a lot.**

_**Ktmollyjoy**__**:**_ **I'm glad you understand. And I hope you'll still read it. I know it's really late. And thanks a lot.**

**Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing, and constantly urging me to write fast! :D**

***line break***

**Percy's POV**

I woke up to the sound of knocking on my room's door. "Who's there?"

"It's me, George."

"Oh, come in, George." He was a son of Hermes, thirteen years old.

It seemed I had taken a lot of damage from the moon goddess' arrows, and Apollo had said it would take time to heal all the injuries. So here I was, laying on my bed, bored.

"How are you today, Commander?" He asked, smiling.

"I'm better," I said, returning the smile. "Thank you. So, I assume you didn't just drop by enquire about my well-being, did you?"

"I just got an Iris-message," he said nonchalantly. "Damon's sent report. The monsters have been taken care of."

"Any news of the Hunters?"

"No," he said, sounding bitter on the mention of Hunters. "I hope those weaklings were overrun by monsters and died."

_Aw man_, I grimaced. I couldn't really help it now. My men were going to hate the Hunters for all eternity probably. _Artemis, you better stay away from my Warriors, for your sake._

"Tell him I'll be good to join them in a week at most. And you should go join them, now. I can take care of myself."

"But, my lord-"

"No, George." I cut him short. "Your brothers need you. Go help them out. You can contact me anytime via Iris-message."

"Alright," he said, but didn't leave.

"Is there anything else?"

"Umm… you still didn't tell us where you sent Nico, Drew and Asterix."

"They're on a secret mission that I can't tell you about," I said flatly.

I had sent them on a stealth mission to protect Artemis and her lot due to their assorted abilities. They were rather reluctant, but had agreed in the end.

George opened his mouth to protest, but stopped, knowing better than to argue with me.

"Okay," he sighed.

He was still standing there.

I looked up at him. He had a little lopsided smile, and he was looking down. "So, what else?"

"I was kinda wondering… The days must be pretty boring for you," he said sheepishly.

"Yes?"

"So… I uh- brought you the whole season of Bleach." He grinned.

"Uh… what?" I stared at him, confused.

"You've never watched animes, have you, Commander?"

"Well, I've always had more important stuff to do. So… nope. No time for animes."

"Oh, you should!" He said excitedly. "Like seriously. It's the best!"

"Alright," I tried to smile. "Where is it?"

"Just a second!"

He dashed out of the room and returned after a few seconds, holding a pack of DVDs in his hand, beaming pleasantly. He handed me the pack. An unusually tall character with weird orange hair and a sword was printed on it, clad in black robes.

"George, you sure it's a good idea?" I looked at him uncertainly.

"Positive," he said, still grinning. "You're gonna love it, Commander!"

"I hope."

"Get well soon, Commander." And with that, he left.

**Artemis' POV**

I was sitting in my tent, contemplating the events of the past week. My thoughts always wandered to one particular sea-god. It's like, I couldn't get him out of my mind, partly because of the guilt and partly… well, I didn't want to consider other things.

"Artemis!" The way he had burst in, looking so worried. I couldn't help but remember his pained face when he had placed me in his lap. His sea-green eyes were so kind.

"I _vowed_ to protect you ." His words rung in my mind. "How could I so cruelly let them hurt you while I had the power to stop it? That would've been the most sinful thing I ever did."

Why was he so hell-bent on protecting me? It couldn't be just because of a stupid promise he had made to my brother, could it? I hated it nevertheless. And yet I loved it. Wait, what?

"Oh, Artemis?" An all too familiar voice called in my head.

"What do you want, Aphrodite?"

She materialised out of thin air.

"Why did you do that to my poor Percy?" She pouted playfully.

Even though I know she had said it jokingly, I still felt a twinge of embarrassment, but I kept up a casual facade.

"I had every right," I said, trying to look disgusted. "He was trespassing our privacy."

"Tsk tsk!" She looked at me pitifully. "What a shame, really. Still looking unfazed after doing all that horrible stuff."

"I already apologised to Perseus," I said defensively, but inside, I felt like crying. My deeds sickened me.

"Apologised," she said, considering the word. "_Luring _a person into a _cruel_ trap and just _saying_ "I'm sorry" after bed-ridding him for a couple weeks." Her every word hit me like scalding knives. "Wow! You call that an apology? A very crappy attempt at apologising if you ask me. If it wasn't Perseus, he wouldn't even have accepted your pathetic apology."

I was on the verge of tears, while a little voice in my head yelled, _"What the hell is wrong with you Artemis? Since when did you become so emotional? Just get over it already!_

"Wh-what do you- why are you here?" I stammered, trying to keep my voice from cracking. "What do you want from me?"

"I just want you to behave like a dignified woman and give a proper apology to the man you owe your life to." She smiled.

"Why are you so interested in it, Aphrodite?" I glared at her. "It's between the two of us. You don't have a say in it."

"Tsk tsk!" She turned to leave. "And here I went all out to help you and made arrangements."

"Arrangements?" I asked, a little surprised. "What arrangements?"

"Well," she said, turning around. "I thought you were not interested?"

"I'm not, but just tell me already."

"You know, there's this little cabin at Montauk beach. Percy has his favorite childhood memories from that place. But he hasn't gone there in years. I think you two should spend some time there and improve your… relations." She winked.

"What are you, crazy?" I said hotly. "Me? Going to a beach house? With him? Alone?"

"Why, yes, of course!" She said, beaming. "You two obviously like each other."

"Okay, stop!" I raised up a hand. "That's enough. I _don't _like that sea-god. No, I don't. I'm an eternal maiden, remember?"

"I'm the goddess of love, my dear," she said in a sugar-coated voice. "I see things. I know stuff. It's time you gave up that stupid vow. I even reinnovated that ruin of a cabin. All for you. You should be thankful. I won't force you, but think about it."

She winked at me again, turned around and teleported away.

_O-kay_. I considered it. _I think it's not that bad of an idea. Um… but will he go with me? I mean… Oh heck! Am I really considering it? Like, seriousy? What's gotten into me?_

Oh well, as much as I hated to admit it, that good-for-nothing love goddess was right. I owed Perseus an apology, a proper one. _So I'll just go ask him out… I mean, err- 'apologise' to him._

"Thalia!" I called as I got out of my tent.

"Yes, m'lady?" she said, coming out of her tent.

"I uh- have got to take care of a few things. You take the charge for now."

***line break***

**A/N: There ya go! Review if you can. :) Thanks! And I tend to mix up American and British English, so sorry if you find it frustrating...  
**


	15. Chapter 15: Bleached

CH 15

**A/N: Heya! How are you all? I'm good and I've been very busy. Here's another chapter. I'm extremely sorry for the delay!**

**Oh, and I'm going to use some coarse language from now on. It makes things fun. If you can't handle it, please don't read.**

**Disclaimer: PJatO belongs to Rick Riordan.**

**Some Review-replies:**

_**Gold Testament**__**:**_** Err… nice suggestion, pal. But I'm afraid I'll have to continue with Montauk cabin. Also, Artemis is willingly going (she knows it inside that she wants to). About Aphrodite, she knows because she… well, IDK. Because she's a goddess? O_o**

_**bleach409**__**:**_** I'm glad somebody understands.**

_**mesoepicandstufflikeinnit:**_** Thank you very much! :D Yeah, I can't do without punctuation. I might not be perfect, but I'm a grammar Nazi.**

_**DaughterOfHermesWatchUrWallet**__**:**_** Hey, thanks a lot for all those reviews. I'm very happy that you like the story so much. Keep reading.**

_**Impatientkid:**_** Well, she's the goddess of love, so you never know. XD**

_**Nogoodnms**__**:**_** Thanks for the advice. I'll try increasing the chapter length. Personally, I don't like exceedingly long chapters. I like 2000-3000 words long chapters best. :)**

_**Defy ThE SHOCKER**__**:**_** LOL action? ;) Haha! I'm sorry you won't get to see any 'action'.**

_**Nightcrawler99**__**:**_** *sigh* When will people learn not to swear. It doesn't help, you know.**

**Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing, and constantly urging me to write fast! :D And the title of this chapter is thus because I am paranoid. And crazy for Bleach. ;) :P  
**

* * *

**Artemis' POV**

"Shit! She's coming this way," I heard disturbance from the bushes as I was leaving camp. "Quick, hide! Commander won't be happy if she finds us."

I mentally face-palmed myself. Perseus and his over-protectiveness! He's always risking his neck to protect others. But that's what I loved about him.

_Wait! WHAT?_ I didn't know what was wrong with me? I was starting to compliment that sea god a lot lately. Subconsciously, that is. _I will never compliment him in my right mind. Or will I? Ugh! What the Hades? Why can't I get my mind OFF him?_

I teleported to Percy's palace and made my way to his room, my thoughts still centered on him. _Wait. When did I start calling him Percy? What's so special about him anyways? He's stupid, arrogant, mean, cute, warm, caring, smexy…_

"Gaaawds!" I almost cried in a childish manner, frustrated by my inner arguments beyond belief. _Am I falling for hi-?_

"Who's there?" A familiar voice came from a nearby room. I had reached Percy's- Perseus' room without even realizing it.

"It's me, Artemis." I knocked on the door.

"Oh," came his voice, a little surprised. "Come in."

"Hey," he greeted in his casual manner as I opened the door. My heart raced as I saw he was lying shirtless in his bed. Again.

"G-good morning, Perseus," I stuttered as a heavy blush started creeping over my face. "How are you now?"

"I'm better," he said, smiling that amazing smile of his. "Thanks. So, what brings you here?"

"I uh… I was… um-" This was harder than I had imagined. My throat went so dry all of a sudden. "I've been thinking… that I didn't apologize to you properly. It's been nagging my conscience for a few days now. So… erm… I was wondering…"

"Yes?" He encouraged.

"Wilyouspensometimewimme?" That came as a high-pitched squeal. _Oh shit!_ This wasn't like me at all!

"I'm sorry, what?" he looked puzzled.

_Okay, Artemis. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out._

"I was wondering if…" I started slowly, taking deep breaths, "you would, you know, want to go spend some time with me somewhere. So that I can make it up to you?" I couldn't bring myself to look at him, so I just kept my head down, staring at my lap.

_There, I said it!_

"Err… are you sure?"

I looked up. He was gazing at me with an eyebrow raised and confused eyes. I sighed. "Yes, I'm sure."

"But-"

"Look, please don't make it any harder for me," I said through clenched teeth, eyes closed. "Just say yes and let me get rid of this horrible guilt."

"But you don't have to do this!" His hand was suddenly on my shoulder, and my heart beat quickened again. "You don't have to force yourself. I've already forgiven y-"

"But I haven't!" I burst out, and honestly, deep inside, I still hadn't forgiven myself. "I haven't forgiven myself. Will you come with me?"

"Artemis," he sighed.

"Please?" I looked him in the eyes.

"Okay." He finally gave in. "When do we leave?"

"How about right now? If you want to, that is."

"Okay," he said, and I sighed with relief. "So where are we going?"

"Oh, that's a surprise!" I grinned at him mischievously, and he looked at me unsurely. I snapped my fingers and teleported us to Montauk beach.

"What is this place?" He asked, smiling a little. I guess being around water had that effect on him.

"Guess?"

He looked around a little and when he saw a cabin in the distance, his eyes instantly lit with happiness and a grin came over his face. Before I knew it he had me in a bear-hug. "Oh, Artemis!"

I blushed profusely at that, my heart-beat rising exponentially. His salty sea scent was making me hyperventilate. It felt so good. I could stay like this forever.

_What the fuck, Artemis?_ A part of me yelled. _How dare this bastard touch you like that? STOP behaving like Bella Swan and kick this idiot in the balls already!_

"W-what the hell are you doing, P-Perseus?" I stammered, a struggle going on inside my mind. He let go, and I instantly felt bad.

"Sorry," he said, his cheeks a little red. "Just… my way of saying thanks."

"I-it's okay," I said, a little shamefully. "I'm just not used to it."

_Like hell you aren't!_ That part of my mind yelled again. _Let's kill his ass if he tries that again!_

"Ugh! Shut UP!"

"Err… what?" Percy said, looking puzzled.

Oh shit. I had said it out loud. Now he might think I'm paranoid. _That's great!_ _There sinks your chance of impressing him! Wait, wait, WAIT! What in HADES is wrong with me? Why do I even WANT to impress him?_

My frustration must have shown on my face, because he immediately asked concernedly, "Hey, you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," I looked up. "I'm fine. Let's go inside."

* * *

"Oh no! Rukia's gonna die!" I cried loudly. "That too because of her own _brother_! All you men are like that- selfish, arrogant and bigheaded and-"

"We're not!" Percy snapped. "For Styx's sake, stop with that anti-male speech already! Ichigo will be coming to save her any second now."

So yeah, we were watching this very interesting anime thingy, Bleach, on the DVD player which Aphrodite had so kindly arranged for us. _Seriously, what is she up to?_

We were in Percy's room. I was wearing an overlarge t-shirt and denim shorts and he was wearing Bermuda shorts and a gym vest, showing off his muscular physique. We were sitting on his bed, me lying back cuddling a heart shaped pillow which I had developed a strange liking to, and him sitting cross-legged.

In the last few days, I had become a little more comfortable around Percy. I no longer struggled with myself and just went with the flow, acting more naturally around him. But there was this little part of my mind which was always saying things like, _"Why are you doing this?", "What does it all prove?", "That's no way of apologizing", "You're losing your values"_ and stuff like that. But I ignored it. I was having a good time after centuries. I was _not_ going to ruin it all!

As much as I hated to admit it, Percy was quite the gentleman. Everything about him was so perfect- his etiquettes, his way of thinking, his ideals, everything. And of course, you can't leave out that chiseled body of his.

"You know," he started, looking at me. "I feel like the luckiest guy in the world right now."  
"Oh, really?" I stuck out my tongue at him playfully.

"Yeah, really," he said, imitating me. "To be graced by presence of the mighty huntress, the forever maiden, the one and only, Lady _Artemis_! You're not generally that nice, are you? You must really like me, eh?"

I felt a blush creeping over my face, so I quickly looked away and tried to say authoritatively, "Pfft, puh-leez! Don't push your luck, Perseus. If it wasn't for Aphrodite convincing me into doing this-"

"Oh." His face fell suddenly. "So it's her doing. For once, I thought you genuinely wanted to apologize. I should've known."

My heart sank. "Perseus-"

"Cut it out," he said flatly, and got up from the bed to leave, never once looking at me.

Oh gods, no! I quickly let go of the pillow and followed him. "Wait, Percy. You're getting it all wrong!"

"No, I'm not." He still didn't look back, just kept striding along the beach.

"No, please!" I almost begged, picking up pace to stop him. "Listen to me for once! I really wanted to apologize. Honest!"

"I'm so sick of Aphrodite and her games," he grumbled angrily. "So _sick_!"

"Percy-"

"Why does she have to mess with my life the whole freakin' _time_? I hate her!"

"Percy?"

He stopped abruptly beside a huge rock and punched it hard, making it crack. "This is _ridiculous_!"

"Perseus!" I grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around. "What's wrong with you? Stop whining like a baby! When I say I want to apologize, I sincerely _want to_! I would never have gathered up the courage to do it if Aphrodite hadn't provided that extra push I needed. So just-" Oh gods, he was bleeding.

I took his hand in mine without thinking, golden Ichor flowing out of his knuckles. "You hurt yourself, you idiot."

"Haha!" He laughed mirthlessly. "Now what? You're gonna tear your t-shirt to bandage me?"

"Tsk tsk!" I wrinkled my nose and looked at him skeptically. "Honestly, Perseus? That's so cliché. You think this is some cheesy mortal movie?"

"Then what are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm simply gonna do this." I held his hand between both of my hands and summoned the moonlight magic to heal his hand. It began glowing faint silver, and I closed my eyes.

"There, done." I opened my eyes to find him staring at me intently, his sea green eyes looking directly into my silver ones. It was kind of unnerving. Our faces looked bleached under the pale moonlight. His eyes were so beautiful, and so deep, just like the sea. You could almost get lost in them.

"Artemis," he whispered my name, leaning closer to my face. "You're beautiful."

My body seemed to move on its own, moving closer to him. I saw him close his eyes as I did the same. I could feel his breath on my lips. Our faces were so tantalizingly close, our noses almost touching. A small part of my mind was yelling at me to stop, to resist this temptation, but it was too late. With one desperate breath, I did it. I kissed him.

* * *

**A/N: There, ya have it! Keep 'em reviews comin', my awesome readers! I luuuuurv you all! 3**


	16. Chapter 16: Forbidden Love

CH 16

**A/N: Heya! How are you all? I'm good and I've been very busy. Here's another chapter. I'm extremely sorry for the delay!**

**Some Review-replies:**

_**Gold Testament**__**:**_** Again, very nice suggestion. But I don't have that much time. Sorry, but I think I'm gonna wind it all up in a few more chapters.**

_**bleach409**__**:**_** Thanks man. Yeah, I hurried it a bit, I know. But it's been so long and I think readers are getting sick of waiting. Also, first crushes are a bit rushed, don't you think. I remember my first crush. They can make you do things you'd never do normally. Thanks again.**

_**son of thieves**__**:**_** Haha! Thanks. Well, we'll see. Everybody wants to write a book these days, and so do I.**

_**abercrombie1218w**__**:**_** Thank you, thank you! :D Here's an update!**

_**PrincessAmberLightshallow**__**:**_** Hehe I'm glad you like it. Thanks. I'm also a die hard Percabeth fan. It's just that I also find this pairing cute. And Percabeth fics are getting extremely cliché. Sure, I'll ask if I need help. Thanks :)**

_**Antoinette Castellan**__**:**_** Thanks for the warm welcome, mate! ^_^**

_**Karlina101:**_** Aww! I don't think so, but thanks a bunch! :D**

_**son of death:**_** Nico/Artemis fic? Uh… no? Sorry, I just can't imagine it happening. Nico and Artemis… they never even talked I think.**

_**Mini Jackson**__**: **_**Fb? Yeah, sure. I go by the name Shrey Sleepyhead Soulreaper.**

**Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing.**

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**Percy's POV**

A shock wave ran through my whole body as our lips met. Every fiber of my being felt jelly-fied, wanting more of that divine feeling. It was barely a touch, but her lips felt so perfect on mine that my heartbeat increased tenfold! My brain went into overdrive, unable to process the millions of sensations it was being supplied. It felt incredible!  
And just like that, it was gone. She withdrew with a jerk, suddenly comprehending what was happening, and stared at me with eyes full of shock, fear and shame. My heart was still hammering in my chest like crazy. It had only lasted a second or two, and it had felt amazing. So why did she pull away? What was wrong?

Horror washed over me as I realized what was wrong, but a little too late. Her fist connected with my jaw before I could even blink, and gave a hard blow. That's Artemis for ya. No slap, no shove, nothing girly; just a heavy punch to my face right off the bat, which could even make those WWE heavy-weight champions envious.

I had just _kissed_ the freakin' _goddess_ _of_ _maidenhood_! I was in deep shit. That was all I could think before I saw her eyes moisten and before I could say anything, she was running away from me full speed. I was left alone under the moonlit night to ponder over the events of the past few days; how staying together had led to our coming closer, and had finally led to this forbidden kiss. DANG! I _knew_ it was a bad idea from the start!

_Should I just return to the cabin?_ I asked myself. _Or should I go and try talking to her._ Deciding on the latter, I started following her trail, but I soon found out that it ended abruptly. I sighed. So she had teleported to gods know where.

_Gods, I'm so thick! Why did I do it?_ I thought as I made my way back to the cabin. _Well, I just hope she doesn't tell anyone about this little… incident._

**Artemis' POV**

I appeared at a clearing in a thick evergreen forest. My heartbeat was out of control and I was hyperventilating, partly because of the running and partly because of that… kiss. That goddamn kiss! The kiss that had just ruined my reputation as an untouched, unwavering maiden.

I collapsed on the ground and buried my head in my hands, shaking with horrible sobs as tears stung my eyes. This was unacceptable! I was a maiden who had forsworn romantic love for all eternity. I was far above those useless feelings! Love was bad. Men were detestable beings who never deserved a woman's love! I had always believed that. Then why were these emotions overtaking me? Why did I have the urge to kiss that kelp-headed sea god? _Why_ was I feeling this overwhelming guilt at hurting him? After all, it had been as much my fault as his.

"Because you're in love, honey pie!" A voice said in my mind which, I could bet, was Aphrodite's.

"Shut up!" I yelled at nobody in particular.

"Come on," she said in a teasing manner. "Accept it already. You're in love with Percy!"

"Shut UP, Aphrodite!" I screamed, crying even harder. "Just shut the fuck up and leave me _alone_!"

"My, oh my. That's pretty rude, even coming from you. Since when did you become so foul-mouthed, Artemis dear?"  
"Since _you_ started messing with my emotions!" I shouted into the air, fresh tears coming to my eyes. I seemed to be doing a lot of crying lately. "This is all your fault! First you ruined Perseus' life, and now you're ruining _mine_! Why are you making me feel these alien emotions for him?"

"Oh, but I'm not making me feel you anything, sugar," she replied in her sickeningly sugarcoated voice. "Your feelings for him are your own."

"Such _lies_!"

"Why would I lie, hun?" She asked sweetly. It was getting annoying. "I'm telling the truth. I can sense it. He is, after all, one in a million, isn't he? Such a gentleman, eh?"

"I don't _know_," I said, frustrated. "He's… different. I've never met a guy like him before, but I can't fall in love! Not with him. Not with _anyone_. Not at all!"

"Sure you can," she said adamantly. "What's wrong with falling in love?"

"Men aren't trustworthy," I said bitterly. "They will always hurt you and leave you heartbroken."

"But Percy won't," she countered. "You yourself admitted that he's different. And you know how much he loved Annabeth, didn't you? Still he was the one who got dumped by her, not the other way around. And he's always helped and protected you, no matter what. What's wrong with falling in love with such a pure-hearted person?"

I didn't have an answer to that. She had won the argument. But I couldn't fall in love. "What of my reputation, my pride as a maiden hunter? I can't simply walk away from what I've preached for thousands of years."

"Well, that's for you to choose," she said with a tone of finality. "Either you go for love or you stick with your stupid group of eternal maidens. Decide before it's too late. You never know the value of what you have until it's gone. And err… on a different note, many girls are after him, including me, so you might wanna hurry. Kaythanksbye!"

I felt a tinge of jealousy at that, but I ignored it. _You have to be strong_, I told myself. _You have to avoid that man._

Well, for the time being at least. Until I sort out my priorities. But was I really falling for Perseus? Was he the one for me?

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**A/N: Short, I know. Sorry. :( So how was it? Good? Bad? Average? Don't forget to tell me in a review! :D Good day!**


	17. Chapter 17: Realization

CH 17

**A/N: Hi, guys! I have something very important to tell you. I've been stuck with a block since months, and that probably shows in my recent chapters. I didn't know where the story was going or how I was going to end it or anything. I had also lost motivation to write. Olympian Hero, a fellow Fanfiction author, has been a great help. Being the awesome person that he is, he understands my situation and has come to my rescue. He has helped me a LOT! Everything I'm gonna write from here onwards, it's his imagination. He suggested the plot to me! Now I'm gonna make some changes wherever needed and write on. So if you want to thank someone to keep the story going, thank him, not me. He also has a Pertemis story going on. You should all go check it out. I'll be really thankful if you do.**

**Thanks a TONNE, Olympian Hero! You're the man! XD**

**And I haven't read much about the Primordials and stuff, so I might twist and bend mythology in the following chapters.**

**No Review-replies this time. Well, there wasn't much to reply to anyways. :/ Just a question: If we replace an old chapter with a new one (correcting errors and stuff, ya know), will all the reviews of that chapter be deleted too?**

**Arigatou gozaimasu, Minna-san. Let's start the chapter.**

* * *

**Thalia's POV**

"Okay, Death Boy," I said threateningly. "Either you tell me what the hell you've been doing here or I get it outta your system the hard way."

"L-look, Thalia," Nico stuttered. "Why don't we all discuss this like civilized people and not resort to violence?"

"No." Phoebe grabbed his collar and took her hunting knife out, placing it at his neck. "You tell us what you were doing here and or I'll slit your throat."

"I wouldn't be stupid enough to do that if I were you."

We all turned to the source of that voice, nocking arrows on our bows, and saw two other Warriors standing a few feet from us, their swords shining wickedly in the moonlight.

Phoebe shoved Nico to the ground and came frontward. "You little-"

"Listen, girls." The older looking took a step forward, interrupting Phoebe. He was a blonde and around fifteen. "We don't wanna fight. Just hand Nico over and we'll leave peacefully."

"Haha!" She laughed, throwing her head back. "Don't joke around. You're not in a position to negotiate, _boy_! It's forty of us against just three of you. You're at a huge disadvantage."

"Oh, yeah?" The younger one said cockily. "Bring it on, then! Let's show them what we're made of, Asterix! It's a good chance to avenge Damon."

"Drew," the boy named Asterix said calmly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're not here to fight. Remember what Commander said? No fighting. They're not the enemies."

"Yeah," the younger guy, Drew, snorted. "They aren't exactly being friendly though."

"Listen up, you punks." I decided to interrupt their little chit-chat. "Tell us what you three are doing here or else we'll skewer you."

"What we do is our matter." Gods! His calm emotionless tone was annoying! "We don't disclose it to anyone."

"Not when you're sneaking around in _our_ camp, brat!"

"Thalia, please," came Nico's voice from behind. "Let us go. I swear we didn't mean you any harm."

"Thalia," said Laura. " I don't think it's the time to fight. Lady Artemis is missing. These boys didn't even do anything, so I think we should let them go for now and start searching for her."

I took in a deep breath. She was right. They hadn't done anything. And besides, as much as I hated to accept it, I knew that they were far stronger than us, and even if we outnumbered them greatly, it could turn ugly if we got into a fight. We could lose many of our Hunters.

"Okay. We'll let you guys go for now," I said calmly, and then added. "But don't take it as a sign of our weakness. You'll regret it."

"Wait," Asterix said. "So you're saying that your leader is missing too?"

"What do you mean by 'too'?"

"Well, our Commander, Lord Perseus, is also missing," he said. "It's been a few days now. And George told me the last person to meet him in his palace was Lady Artemis."

"I smell something fishy," said Phoebe scrunching her eyebrows.

"So what d'ya think?" He asked.

"I think their disappearance is related somehow," I said loudly. "So why don't we forget our rivalry for now and join efforts to find our leaders?"

"That seems like a rational decision," he said, surprising me. I had half expected him to tell us off right away. "I'll take you guys to our camp and we'll start our search afterwards. But I request you all to _behave_, alright?"

I nodded my head stingily while some other Huntresses weren't as discreet in hiding their resentment. With that, we left for the Warriors' camp.

* * *

**Damon's POV**

"The hell, Asterix!" I shouted at the said person. "Why would you bring _them_ to our camp?"

"Calm down, man."

I was fuming. Was he insane? They had tried to kill me a few months ago! How could he expect me to calm down? The other Warriors were also confused and enraged.

"Listen, bro." It was Nico. "They're here to help. Lady Artemis has gone missing too, and it seems the sudden disappearance of our camp leaders is inter-related. So we're going to combine our efforts to find them."

"But we don't _need_ their help!"

"We don't need your help either, you losers!" A Hunter shouted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Asterix held his hands up in both directions before I could say something, signaling us to calm down. "Easy, guys. Now what did I tell you, ladies? No fighting, no bitchy comments. Behave, please."

"Asterix, this is a bad idea." I tried to put some sense into his brain.

"Don't worry, man." He smiled at me reassuringly. "We'll work this out. Now, brothers! Let us all behave like cultured people and at least _try_ to work as a team, okay?"

He looked at me expectantly as I was the lieutenant. I sighed. "Alright, then. Boys, no threatening, no friendly-fire and no bullying. We work as a team." I smirked and added, "For now, at least."

After a few grumpy cries and complaints from my comrades, we started packing up and left to search for our camp leaders.

* * *

"What are they doing just standing there?"

"Gimme that!" I snatched the binoculars from Matt and looked through them.

We all were lying behind the small highway running along the beach where we had finally found our camp leaders. It was too far to see what they were doing with the bare eye, so we were using binoculars. We had to stay undetected for the time being so as to spy on what these supposed-to-be rivals were doing all alone in an isolated area.

"What the-" Thalia and I both exclaimed as we saw them move closer, leaning their faces toward each other. As we watched in horror, Lady Artemis slowly stood on her toes and their lips met.

"FUUUU-" I stood up with a jerk and threw the binoculars in rage. "What in Hades just happened?"

I turned towards the Hunters and saw their faces morphed in utter shock, embarrassment and disbelief. Their patron had just _kissed_ our patron. The idea of a virgin goddess kissing another virgin god was just outrageous! We couldn't wrap our minds around what had just happened.

"We need an explanation," I spat venomously.

"W-what are you talking about?" Thalia said defensively, her face red. "It was not entirely her fault! Percy also-"

"But Artemis made the final move!" I cut her mid-sentence. I was seething and I really wanted to wring the Hunters' necks that very moment. "Bloody hell! You all claim to be so pious and _this_ is what your patron does! This is-"

"Hey!" A little girl called. "Look, she just punched him and now she's running. We gotta check up on them."

"Damon, I'm sorry for what just happened," Thalia said, stepping forward. "But can you just let it rest for now. We should really check on our leaders first, don't you think? We're leaving to look for Lady Artemis and you-"

"Oh no, you don't." I took out my sword. "Not before you explain why she did it."

"Damon, get a grip, man!" My half-brother Raymond stepped in. "Leave it, for now at least. We'll pulverize them later. Let's go check on Commander."

I gave Thalia one last murderous glare and then said, "Fine."

The Huntresses scuttled away without making a sound. "I swear I'll kill them the next time I see them."

"Calm down, man." Nico put a hand on my shoulder. "Let's go set up camp somewhere. Will says he saw the Commander through the binoculars going in Lady Artemis' direction. He must be really disoriented right now. We'll check on him later."

"Alright," I sighed. "Let's go."

**Third Person POV**

A figure materialized out of the darkness as the Warriors left. It was barely visible, as if made of darkness itself. The only thing clearly discernible about its appearance was a vaguely humanoid shape and red eyes, glowing in the dark, a very sinister aura surrounding it.

Tartarus was free. After countless futile attempts of trying to break out of his own realm, in which he was locked away eons ago by the Titans, he was finally free. And he was out for revenge.

* * *

Percy, who had been too lost in his thoughts of the recent events, was jerked back to reality as he sensed a massive source of power nearby, one with such potential that he had never encountered before. Not even the Titans were that powerful. He had fought them, and he could tell that this power was something else, something completely off the charts.

He started to get off the bed. _I have to go check this ou-_

"AHH!" Something huge demolished the cabin wall and crashed into him with lightning speed.

He clutched his shoulder as pain shot through his left side, almost paralyzing him. He looked at the creature that had attacked him and his eyes widened. The creature had big green eyes and menacing fangs, poisonous saliva dipping through them. It was almost like a ridiculously over-sized rabid dog, except it had metallic scaly skin, and spikes protruded out of its spine. It was one of the ugliest monsters he had ever seen before.

It pounced again with unbelievable speed and Percy barely dodged as the creature thrashed into another wall making the whole cabin shake dangerously. He summoned Riptide and took a battle stance, his left side still hurting like Hades.

His godly senses kicked just in time to save him from a swift blow aimed at the back of his head. He jumped up and turned in mid air to see another monster – if possible, even uglier than the previous one - standing where he had been just a millisecond ago.

"Ah, I see you have fine reflexes," an ominous voice said in his mind. It sounded like that of a young guy, but old at the same time.

"Who's there?" He asked out loud, landing between the two monsters.

"You must be Perseus," the voice echoed in his head. "The savior of Olympus." He scoffed. "Monsters talk about you a lot."

"Who are you?" Percy asked again in a more commanding tone.

"I am the spirit of Tartarus, boy."

All Hades broke free with that. The cabin shook with another hit and debris started falling as the cabin began collapsing on Percy. He flashed out of the cabin. Monsters attacked him from all sides and he could hardly evade them. He didn't even have the time to register his surprise at the reply of the stranger talking in his head.

"What do you want from me?" He yelled, trying to fend off the monsters.

"Oh, nothing in particular," the voice replied, laughing. "Just want to send a message to the Olympians."

"But what do you have against us?" It was getting harder and harder by the minute to defend himself against all those new monsters he had never fought against.

"Nothing personal," he said nonchalantly. "I want revenge against the Titans for locking me up in my own realm, but seeing as most of them are down there rotting in the Pit or have faded, I decided to go for the next best thing, their children, the Olympians."

He heard a frenzied laugh inside his head, but it was mirthless and he could only sense darkness and isolation. He knew that further argument would be fruitless. He had to warn the Olympians about this somehow, but he wasn't in a situation to leave the place easily. The monsters were multiplying in numbers, and his strength was draining. A few more minutes of this and he won't even be able to hold his own. His best shot was to end all of this in an instant, and he knew just the way to do that, but there was great risk. He wasn't even at his full health.

He winced as a projectile brushed his thigh. It had been poisonous. He knew his leg won't hold for long. He really needed to end this. He quickly summoned Riptide's twin sword, Soul-reaper. Another monster leapt at him and he cried in desperation, "God Flash!"

In a split second, half of the monster army was dead and he was advancing for another kill when something pierced him in the ribs and an agonizing scream filled the moonlit night.

"You are skilled, youngling, I'll give you that." Tartarus' tone was very calculated. "But these aren't your average monsters. They are the deadliest creatures from the Pit of Tartarus itself. You cannot overpower them."

Percy fell to the ground but got up instantly despite the unbearable pain in his torso. He could barely lift his swords, but he was still willing to fight. It was a matter of honor now. His body was threatening to shut down any second but his strong resolve and survival instinct kept him standing.

The monsters attacked again and slowly he began to lose consciousness. After a few more seconds, he was merely swinging his swords on impulse, his eyelids drooping. His body was full of cuts, bruises and broken bones. He was going to pass out any moment.

"You put up a great fight, young hero," Tartarus said in mock appraisal. "But this is your limit. As a reward for entertaining me, I will show you some mercy. You are spared this time, but know this: the next time we meet, you're dead."

With one manic laugh, the source of power disappeared, and so did the monsters. Percy collapsed to the ground, pain and exhaustion taking over. Darkness clouded his vision and he passed out.

**Artemis' POV**

Thunder rumbled in the sky and I looked up from my reverie. It was a bad omen. All of a sudden, I felt the presence of a colossal power from the Montauk cabin. It was odd. What could be there? It seemed even more powerful than the Titans, and very sinister.

_Percy!_ My thoughts suddenly centered on him and I was worried like Hades. _What if he's in danger?_

I knew he was powerful and could hold his own, but I still had to go check on him in case something went wrong. After all, he was still recovering from our last… err... encounter.

I teleported to Montauk beach and what I saw horrified me to no end. The whole place was a wreck! The cabin was totally demolished and there were signs of battle.

"Percy!" I cried and ran to his side. He was lying unconscious on the sand, Ichor oozing out of every part of his body. His form was flickering slightly. Dread washed over me as I realized what was happening.

"Styx, no!" I started shaking uncontrollably, tears stinging my eyes, and fell on the ground as my knees buckled. He was on the verge of fading! I had to do something!

"APOLLO!" I screamed into the night sky as loud as I could, and he appeared within a second.

"Hey, whatsa matter-?" Apollo couldn't finish his sentence. He watched with wide eyes and his expression changed from shock to fear to panic. "What in the name of Styx happened here? Don't tell me you-"

"_No!_" I wailed, sobbing. "It was s-s-someone else, I don't- I don't know who. C-can you please h-hea-heal him?" I broke into fresh tears.

Apollo started working on Percy and I sat there beside him, feeling extremely guilty for having left him there alone. _If only I had stayed, things would've been different. He wouldn't be on the verge of fading right now._

As I saw his limp body lying there on the ground, brutally cut and bruised, I felt like the stupidest person in the world for having let my inner struggle get the better of me. I should have stayed. I shouldn't have done that to him. He didn't deserve it. I shouldn't have doubted my feelings for him. Of course I was in love with him! How could I be so dense not to realize it? Right then, I wished _I_ could be in his place. I wished I could feel the pain he was going through, and I almost did, not physically, but the mental trauma was killing me inside.

Suddenly his body started to glow. As we watched wide-eyed, he turned into a little kid, about six or seven years old. The cuts and bruises on his face were gone, but his breathing was still rough and uneven.

"W-what just happened?" I asked, shocked.

"I'm not sure, but I think his body is conserving what little energy he has left by shrinking its size," my brother replied, worry evident in his voice.

"So… he's okay now, right?" I looked at him expectantly.

"Yes," he sighed with relief. "He won't fade, though he'll still be out cold for a couple days or so. The poison he was infected with is deadly."

I scrunched my eyes shut, overwhelmed by the relief, and released a breath I didn't even know I had been holding. Biting my lip to stop myself from breaking into tears again, I took a deep breath.

"Thank you," I whispered, my eyes still shut tight.

"It's alright, sis." Apollo placed a hand on my shoulder and I saw him smiling as I opened my eyes. He got up, ready to leave.

"Take care of him." He winked at me and teleported.

I had never felt so relieved in my whole immortal life. I crashed beside him and took a deep breath, lying contentedly on the cool sand. After a few seconds of just laying there gazing at the stars, I got up. Without so much as a second thought, I lifted Percy's bandaged body gently and held his small form in my arms as a mother would her child, his head drooping on my shoulder. His breaths were tickling my neck. A small smile formed on my lips as I teleported us both to my Hunters' camp, wherever they were staying.

As I appeared on the campsite, I saw a few Hunters glaring at me angrily as expected while some others, Thalia included, were trying to hide their grins. I decided to ignore them and go straight to my tent.

"My lady," Thalia called, running toward me. "Where have you been?"

"I had to look after some personal stuff," I said unemotionally.

"Who's that?" She nodded at Percy, eying him warily.

"All in due time, lieutenant," I tried to say calmly, my patience running out. "For no, please let me go to my tent and tend to his injuries. Please tell everyone not to disturb me."

She nodded and left without another word.

I entered my tent and laid Percy on my bed, summoning some nectar and ambrosia. I mixed and mashed them together, and started feeding it to him slowly with a spoon. After a few minutes, his body started to glow again as it had on the beach and he turned into a teenager again, still unconscious. It was a good sign. His body was recovering. A smile crept on my face.

"My lady, we need to talk." It was Phoebe, and she sounded pissed.

"Phoebe," I growled. "I am busy. Didn't Thalia tell you not to bother me for a while?"

"Where have you been?" She stomped in, totally ignoring my words.

"That's none of your concern," I snapped.

"Oh, is it?" She said in a challenging voice. She had always been a rebel, but she had never used that tone with me. Some shit was going on for sure.

"What are you talking about?"

"Okay, let's get to the point," she spat irately and crossed her arms. "We saw you _kissing_ Perseus! Would you be kind enough to explain what the _Hades_ you were doing?"

Oh. Shit.

Before I could answer, she started again, "And who's that behind you?"

She stepped aside to look at Percy's face and instantly shouted in an alarm tone, "You brought that sea-god to our camp! Holy cow! What is wrong with you, Lady Artemis?"

My heart sank. By now the whole camp must have heard her voice and would be gathered outside my tent.

"You make us forswear romantic love for all eternity and you _yourself_ break your vows!" She was yelling, her eyes moist with tears of betrayal threatening to fall any second. "I can't believe it! You of all the people should know how filthy these men are! How could you let this scumbag even touch you? For all we know, you might even have lost your virgini-"

"ENOUGH!" I screamed, my voice suddenly demented, inhuman. "One more word and I'll blast you to Tartarus!"

Her eyes were wide with fear, shock and hurt. Tears started falling from her eyes.

"What is going on here?" Thalia entered the tent and was immediately taken aback by the scene in front of her eyes. She glanced from Percy to me to Phoebe, and ran to her side, wrapping an arm around her. "Hey, what happened? Why are you crying, Phoebe?"

"H-how could she do this to us?" Phoebe's voice was barely audible. She was still in shock.

"Thalia," I said, closing my eyes, unable to take in the sight of a Hunter of mine crying. "Can you please call everyone to the campfire? I want to discuss something."

"Of course." She left with Phoebe at her side, muttering soothing words in her ear.

I apologized to my Hunters a while later at the campfire and requested them not to raise the issue at the moment.

"Please, my sisters," I said loudly. "Can we sort this issue later? There are more pressing matters to attend to. As you all can see for yourselves, Lord Perseus is lying in my tent covered in bandages and knocked out for a few days. He was attacked by a power of magnitude unlike anything I've ever felt. Believe it or not, when I reached there he was on the verge of fading, badly bruised and with many broken bones."

There were a few gasps from the Hunters. "Apollo healed him and someone has to take care of him for the time being. That's why I brought him here."

"But why can't his own lot take care of him?" Laura said scornfully. "The ones he calls his brothers, where are they now?"

I sighed. "We owe our lives to them. After all the things we've done to them, the atrocities we've put them through, the least we could do is nurse Perseus back to health. He put his life on the line to save us, remember? He didn't have to, but he still did, and so did his Warriors. Some of you even attacked his lieutenant, and he still didn't take any action. We owe them a lot, my sisters. Think of this as an opportunity to repay them."

This got to them. No one argued after this. They all just nodded and looked at me to continue. I smiled.

"Thank you," I said, meaning it. "Now, Thalia, I want you to go fetch the Warriors and call them here. I think it would be best to join camps for now. They must be worried about their Commander's well-being. We can't compromise Perseus' safety."

"Uh…" Thalia looked at me unsurely, the corners of her mouth twitching. "I don't think that's a good idea, m'lady. The Warriors were with us too when we saw you both… err… you know."

I mentally facepalmed myself. This was bad. "It doesn't matter now. Just go tell them the whole story and request them to cooperate, at least for their leader's sake. They'll come, trust me."

"Okay." She nodded glumly and left.

"Alright, girls, you know what to do." I stood up. The sun was rising now. "No fighting or arguing with the Warriors, okay? And no pranks either. They must already be in a bad mood, I suspect. Please cooperate with them. I'll be really thankful to you all."

They all muttered reluctant agreements and started getting up, too. I smiled and started walking to my tent. It had been a long night. As I reached my tent, my eyes rested on Percy's peaceful face.

_He's so adorable in his _sleep, I thought as I yawned. I was in my eighteen year old form, while he still looked fourteen or something. I closed my eyes, leaned forward and gently brushed my lips on his. A smile formed on his face even though he was still deep in sleep. I blushed profusely and couldn't help stop the grin creeping up my face. Brushing a few stray locks of hair off his face, I hopped in on the other side of the bed and fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: So that's it. Whew! That was the longest chapter I've ever written. Thanks again to Olympian Hero.**

**Please review! I love you all! And I have exams till mid June, so don't expect any updates till then.**

**Kthnxbai! 3**


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